Health Management Systems 8
Health Management Systems 8 : Health Reporting and Record Management: Reporting of health information will normally be required or requested from an operation by several different organizations. There will likely be a legal requirement for reporting, either by host or home country legislation which must be complied with. Internal reporting to both local and corporate management is normally a routine requirement. Industry representative bodies may also request information. Legislative Reporting: Legislative reporting is normally non-negotiable. The information requested, and the form of presentation, will be governed by the relevant health and safety laws applicable to the operation. There is wide variation between countries as to the nature and amount of this information but, in general, this will normally relate to occupational illness and infectious disease. This information may not be anonymous and could require the identification of individual employees, in which case circulation of reporting documents should be restricted, ideally to the health department only, where possible. Internal Reporting: All companies should require internal reporting of health information. Occupational and work-related illness should be treated with the same importance as an accident or incident, using much of the same process as that utilized for investigating the cause, and for improvement, of controls. Occupational illness is poorly reported industry wide, and specific efforts should be made to ensure that instances are identified. The long latent period for the development of occupational illness means that many cases are reported a considerable period after the onset of exposure, possibly after the individual has changed jobs or locations. Good health record keeping is therefore essential. Records of all cases of occupational illness should be maintained, although only new cases are normally reported. Anonymous reporting of grouped health data will identify areas where targeted intervention may produce cost-effective health improvements. These can be related to key performance indicators which are important to quantify effectiveness of health programmes, justify health expenditure and plan health provision. For guidance on the identification of appropriate health performance indicators see OGP-IPIECA 200714. Company corporate functions will normally require anonymous reporting of health data in order to map illness trends at a global level to allow strategic planning of health services. This information may be different from that required locally. Industry Reporting: Industry representative bodies may request health information that relates to initiatives that they are involved in. These may be ongoing projects (e.g. HSE statistics) which can be useful tools for industry benchmarking, or may be a targeted piece of research. Participation in this type of reporting is essentially optional but may be a requirement of membership of the body. Record Management: Good health records are essential not only for reporting but for the protection of patient, health professional and company. Companies should develop standards for health record management which comply with appropriate legislation, corporate standards and international best practice. Health records are defined as any information pertaining to the medical or occupational assessment, care, treatment, surveillance or other intervention related to the health of the individual. Health records must be kept for each employee and should detail each medical contact, intervention or communication. They should be identifiable as belonging to a specific individual and must be accurate, contemporaneous and legible. They may be physical or electronic records. Records must be kept secure and accessible only to health department staff who must have signed a confidentiality agreement. Identifiable health data may be shared with other health professionals if either implied or expressed consent is obtained from the individual. In order to service the various requirements for health reporting, relevant data sufficient for reporting requirements should be maintained in the health records. To ensure uniformity, a health coding system such as ICD 915 will enable standardization across different areas of the business.
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