Medical transcription with HIPAA Compliance

It becomes a need for everyone to maintain privacy as well as secrecy for certain things. Preventing a medical record from others view is not only mandatory but the wish of each and every human being. Now a day’s medical arena is greatly dependent on transcription service where the question on privacy appears because most of the services are available offshore, in countries like India and the records will be viewed by an unknown personality. People started having second thoughts about the secrecy maintained in this process because hacking any confidential data send via electronic mode is gradually increasing day by day.

The US government introduced HIPAA as an answer to enhance the confidentiality of all sorts of medical records. The acronym HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act which formed the boundary line for protecting the accounts related to health issues of each and every citizen and also avails access for everyone to go through their health care reports. All doctors, hospitals and other health care providers should comply with HIPAA and should make it mandate to encrypt all the documents send for transcription purpose.

Organizations failing to obey the HIPAA policies by mistake are obliged to pay fines ranging from $10000 to $25000 for each and every unauthorized disclosure and if the same unauthorized disclosure is undergone intentionally the fine would range from $100000 to $250000 with an additional punishment of immurement. Making a note on choosing a better transcription service provider under HIPAA regulation will safeguard the onshore covered entity from facing the US court for any privacy violation offshore.

As per HIPAA regulation the Medical transcription services should give a written assurance on safeguarding the patient’s information. It is necessary for every transcription service provider involving in medical transcription to have a data encryption deducting the possibility of others deciphering confidential patient’s data. Access for undergoing medical transcription should be limited only to authorized transcriptionists provided with individual desktop.

Medical transcription services should pay high priority to HIPAA regulation. Being alert on the changes happening in the regulations will help the transcription service provider to elevate its business. Maintaining a back up for all the records transcribed is also one of the norms included in HIPAA. People providing medical transcription services from home are not an exception from HIPAA rule. Even the individual medical transcribers are liable to these regulations and should sign in a written contract with the business associate for whom they render the service