Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
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Documentation of care
. Minimally accepted
levels of documentation of care provided to an
individual may have to be established, both for
purposes of patient care quality and as the basis
for reimbursement from third-party payers.
the participating organizations, such as hospital
systems. In addition formal mutual aid agree-
ments or other contracts should be developed in
advance to document relationships, expectations,
and requirements related to obtaining emergency
reimbursements. On the patient side, issues of
financial access, such as requiring proof of insur-
ance, apply. This concern is closely related to
legal issues of documentation for reimbursement.
It is not likely that providers will be able to
maintain documentation practices beyond what is
considered minimally adequate to support treat-
ment; altered standards of documentation for reim-
bursement purposes may have to be defined.
•
Property seizures
. Provisions may have to be
made to take over property, including facilities,
supplies, and equipment, for the delivery of care
or to destroy property deemed unsafe.
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Provisions for quarantine or mass immuniza-
tion
. In anticipation of biological event, the
plan will have to address the establishment
and enforcement of isolation, quarantine, and
mass immunization and provisions for release
or exception.
Communicating with the Public
Comprehensive plans for responding to a mass-
casualty event include strategies for communi-
cating with the public before, during, and after an
event, as follows:
Financial Issues
Preparing for and providing health and medical
care during a mass-casualty event could result
in large financial losses for all involved orga-
nizations, if issues surrounding the financing of
such preparation and care are not addressed.
Concern about financial resources and reimburse-
ment for health and medical care provided during
a mass-casualty event applies to all providers,
organizations, and sites, including governmental
and nongovernmental, not
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Prior to the occurrence of a mass-casualty
event, the goal should be to educate the
public about:
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Signs and symptoms of chemical, biolog-
ical, radiological, and other exposures.
•
Appropriate self-care responses.
for profit and for
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Appropriate use of health and medical care.
profit.
It
includes concern about costs of
the
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What to expect from the health care system
in the event of a mass casualty incident.
following:
•
Providing care in traditional medical settings,
alternate
•
During a mass-casualty incident,
the goal
care
sites
and pre-hospital
care
should be to:
•
settings.
•
Creating alternate care sites in settings such as
schools, neighborhood centers, or hotels.
•
Training providers.
•
Staging drills.
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Repairing physical plant damage.
One potential source of disaster relief is the
Stafford Act (Public Law 93-288). However,
financing from the Federal government must be
supplemented by funds from other public as well
as private organizations. In preparing a compre-
hensive plan, it may be very valuable for plan-
ners to include financial management experts from
Provide information to the public about the
status of the response.
•
Give consistent messages about when and
where to seek care.
•
Manage expectations regarding the delivery
of health and medical care.
•
Provide guidance on how to obtain informa-
tion about the status of missing persons.
•
Following a mass-casualty incident, the goal
should be to provide ongoing information to the
public about:
•
Signs and symptoms of sequelae of exposure
to toxic agents and post-traumatic stress.
