Medical Billing in India ? HIPAA Compliance

Posted by Ecareindia on July 1st, 2014

Many US medical billing companies are now contemplating the idea of outsourcing to offshore medical billing companies. India is one of the top destinations preferred by the US entities for healthcare outsourcing services. Offshore medical billing companies in India provide top-notch medical billing solutions to their clients, in addition to offering great benefits. However, some healthcare entities hesitate to outsource medical billing to India because of the ‘myths’ surrounding the HIPAA compliance rule. It is believed by many that offshore medical billing companies in India are not HIPAA compliant, if they are not registered in the US. The following factors will prove that the above belief is not correct:

HIPAA Compliance: As mentioned earlier, many healthcare entities have a misconception that medical billing in India does not comply with the HIPAA rule. This is not true! Offshore vendors make sure that they achieve HIPAA compliance by meeting the requirements of three prime regulatory components, namely Transmission, Protection, and PHI Accountability.

· Data Transmission: Withhighly secured FTP and VPN tunnels, data is transmitted as encrypted files between the outsourcing US medical billing companies and offshore vendors.

· Protection: Protection of patient data is ensured by several stages of authentications. In addition, restricted access is provided to employees by assigning unique usernames and passwords.

· PHI Accountability: NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) is signed by all the employees who will be held accountable and liable for prosecution, if a security breach occurs while handling PHI.

Business Associate Agreement: Signing a BAA (Business Associate Agreement) with a HIPAA Covered Entity makes the Business Associate (offshore medical billing companies) as liable as the US companies. The contract not only protects PHI in accordance with HIPAA guidelines, but also holds offshore vendors accountable for potential data breach. Medical billing companies in India are considered HIPAA compliant once they sign a BAA, no matter under which government they are registered with.

HIPAA OMNIBUS Rule: This rule makes Business Associates of Covered Entities directly liable for HIPAA compliance even though they are located outside the US. Therefore, offshore medical billing companies in India are considered responsible for PHI and are liable for data breach penalties under the HIPAA OMNIBUS rule.

Since all these factors prove that offshore medical billing companies in India are HIPAA compliant, US healthcare entities must disregard the myths about offshore medical billing with regards to PHI. e-care is one of the renowned offshore medical billing companies in India that is HIPAA compliant by being ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 27001:2005 certified.

About e-care India:

e-care India delivers exceptional medical billing services with total customer satisfaction. With 14 years of experience in the industry, e-care’s 3 offshore medical billing delivery centers have been providing end-to-end healthcare outsourcing services and medical billing solutions seamlessly to its clients. To know more about e-care and its services, log on to www.ecareindia.com.

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Ecareindia
Joined: June 20th, 2011
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