Technological advances with HIPAA security policies by Supremeus Group

Posted by John on December 18th, 2016

HIPAA represents Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and was passed in 1996. Many must comply with it including health attention providers, insurance companies, transcription and translation companies, and anyone else who has to handle protected health information.

In the healthcare industry, there exists a growing need and standard for healthcare professionals to keep up complete documentation of every interaction together with patients. Not only does this protect the patient plus the medical staff involved but it also ensures a specific minimum level of care and continuity because of care. Therefore, all conversations that take place between medical staff and patients along with audio journals (dictation) regarding patient records has to be handled and documented appropriately for upcoming reference. Because of this, there can be an ever-growing need for professional transcription services offering the smooth handling of personal/medical data.

There is a great deal regarding confidentiality involved in the medical system in terms of handling patient records. Those transcription companies that perform medical transcription must meet the minimum standard of HIPAA complying.

For the sake of confidentiality for the patient, only those individuals who are directly a part of the care of the patient should gain access to the patient records. This pertains especially to:

- Direct care staff (RN's, LPN's, Medical professionals & surgical staff, etc)
- Transcribing staff (Billing, admitting)
- Support employees (imaging technicians, lab workers, social staff, etc)

In some situations, outside groups or agencies could have patient information released to them : usually for legal purposes (law enforcement, legal professionals, etc).

The nature of HIPAA Training has worked well for many years in protecting the confidentiality of patients as well as the staff that works with those individuals. Unfortunately due to the nature regarding dictation (staff can't always write everything down) transcription services have to be brought in as well. As these kinds of, those transcription companies must also attempt to maintain the confidentiality of patient records.

Take into account that legal professionals will also have to gain access to patient records for purposes of civil and criminal law as mentioned before. A transcription agency still has to keep up confidentiality and practice HIPAA compliance even when that transcription agency does not offer you the medical transcription. They may still encounter those records while providing transcription to an attorney, or for a trial or perhaps criminal hearing.

Even in situations where medical records usually are not present, HIPAA still sets a standard regarding how records should be handled with regards to confidentiality. Other professionals could benefit from outstanding HIPAA Certification while handling any part of client information for transcription purposes. This is especially valid for data stemming from legal/law enforcement transcription where confidential information needs to be secured when it comes to protecting victims and criminal rights along with sensitive trial information.

There are numerous ways that a transcription company ensures confidentially and protect the businesses and organizations they work with, their extended client network and lastly themselves - whether working with medical records or any confidential client info.

Controlling the File format of Records

Converting from tape-based formats to electronic formats is probably the best ways to protect data. Hard copies of patient and client information may be lost, misplaced and even stolen or perhaps damaged. The legal and professional staff is discouraged from using hard copies to produce audio recordings and is instead directed to utilize digital formats. These files can be easily utilized in a transcription service and can be encrypted to guard the client data.

Controlling Access

Password protection is certainly used to protect sensitive material and usage of certain areas. It's still an effective method employed by transcription services, whether a company makes use of an in-house transcription group or a great outsourced transcription agency.

Maintaining Standards

Since HIPAA standards change, it's important for anyone involved in client and patient care to keep current. Modern professional transcription services usually attend regular training, meetings and seminars to pay the ongoing updates surrounding HIPAA complying.

If an agency or organization is working with anything that is deemed sensitive or perhaps confidential client data - especially in relation to medical records - it's vital to do business with a supporting transcription service that maintains HIPAA compliance training and recommendations through their daily routines.

For getting more information about HIPAA Security Training visit the website https://www.supremusgroup.com/training-courses/hipaa-security-training/instructor-led-boot-camps-security/