Stringent deadlines and high quality goals are synonymous with the medical transcription service profession. However, one thing that aspirants are generally not aware of is the confidentiality of medical information that medical transcription service providers are expected to maintain.
As a patient, would you like the information about your health to become public knowledge? Health information is personal information and therefore, it is supposed to be kept secure and confidential by anyone who has access to it. The medical transcriptionist too has to make sure that the information that passes through his/her hands does not leak outside.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), among other things, has laid down guidelines to ensure the security of patients’ health data. All medical transcriptionists are required to comply with the guidelines. A medical transcription company takes care of keeping information secure in its premises. However, as a home-based medical transcription service provider, one has to make an effort to ensure compliance with HIPAA. Let’s look at how you can become HIPAA-compliant while working from home.
Keep the medical data out of reach of anyone other than you. Make your office-space inaccessible to others.
Protect your medical transcription work on the computer with passwords.
Keep your anti-virus software updated.
Keep the firewall on whenever you are connected to a network.
When sending files to your client, make sure the files are transmitted over a secure FTP network.
Keep your FTP site protected with a password.
Encrypt e–mails that contain queries and information on the medical records.
Back-up your medical transcription work periodically on an external drive.
Ensuring compliance with HIPAA talks high of your integrity and commitment to the profession.
