subject: Hipaa Compliance With Doctor Answering Services [print this page] The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a privacy Act mandating that medical records of individuals are confidential and must be transported via secure channels. Penalties can be imposed if the rules are not followed by individuals in the medical field, or anyone handling patient information. A doctor answering service protects the privacy of patients during the communications process, and they are able to comply with the mandatory HIPAA regulations.
Doctor answering services have highly trained and certified agents who use professional scripting to gather the appropriate information and to handle it suitably. It is also a highly technological telecommunications field which has disaster recovery plans to protect patient information; the proper storage and recovery of which is also a requirement of HIPAA.
Doctor answering service agents are trained to use information only for the purposes for which it is intended from patients and doctors. An answering service is a professional and accurate means to meet patient needs, and they avoid long hold times or busy signals for patients. They provide coverage for overflow calls in a doctor's office, and after hours and emergency call handling. In addition to answering calls, agents have the capability to triage to the correct medical professional, schedule appointments, and obtain referral information.
An answering service staff has ongoing HIPAA training to assure secure voice communications, and safe storage of information. Reasonable precautions are taken for the security of electronic information transfers such as pagers, email, fax and internet. HIPAA assures that a patient's information is protected, while allowing the flow of information needed for the patient's care. Answering service agents work with great accuracy and care to meet patient needs, and always comply with HIPAA regulations.
Just to reiterate, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a privacy Act mandating that medical records of individuals are confidential and must be transported via secure channels. Penalties can be imposed if the rules are not followed by individuals in the medical field, or anyone handling patient information. Doctor answering services have highly trained and certified agents who use professional scripting to gather the appropriate information and to handle it suitably. It is also a highly technological telecommunications field which has disaster recovery plans to protect patient information; the proper storage and recovery of which is also a requirement of HIPAA.
Answering service agents are trained to use information only for the purposes for which it is intended from patients and doctors. An answering service is a professional and accurate means to meet patient needs, and they avoid long hold times or busy signals for patients. They provide coverage for overflow calls in a doctor's office, and after hours and emergency call handling. In addition to answering calls, agents have the capability to triage to the correct medical professional, schedule appointments, and obtain referral information.
