Comply With
HIPAA Medical Transcription
HIPAA is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and is a series of privacy regulations. These regulations are designed to protect the privacy rights of individuals regarding their confidential medical records. Medical transcription is the means used to document the healthcare record. HIPAA regulations apply to medical transcription, and penalties, including fines and imprisonment, are possible when violations are found. It is crucial that patient information not be shared with anyone other than the parties for whom it was intended, and procedures must be put into place to assure this.
Instructions
1. Find quality HIPAA compliance software with an online training mode. This will assure that all staff can train at any time during their workday. However, give a deadline for training completion--no exceptions. A certificate should be printed post-training and should be placed in the employee's personnel and departmental files.
2. Convert from tape-based records to electronic formats. Tapes can be lost, misplaced, stolen, etc. Some hospitals and insurance companies have onsite medical transcriptionists, but many outsource to transcription companies. All voice and data files transferred via the Internet should be encrypted. Only the company and the transcription service should know the code. This assures security and HIPAA compliance.
3. Ensure that all medical transcriptionists, or any other employee who has access to healthcare records, have password-protected work stations. No one should be able to open an employee's computer files without having a password. A system should be in place where employees have to update their passwords every 30 to 60 days.
4. Keep employees informed about updates to HIPAA with ongoing training via seminars and informal meetings. Included with this training should be specific instructions on incorporate and implement these changes within your facility. Time should be allowed for employees to ask questions and get answers. If a specific question cannot be answered during training time, the employee should be called or emailed with an answer within 24 hours.
5. Encourage employees to help each other in the compliance process. For example, an employee leaves her transcription document on the screen while she's in the restroom. If another employee sees this, she should let her co-worker know. By doing this, there will be a shared system of responsibility in place. Employees will help each other, and the company, to comply with HIPAA medical transcription compliance standards.
Tags: Comply With, each other, help each, help each other, HIPAA compliance, medical transcriptionists
