HIPAA and medical transcription
The health insurance portability and accountability act of 1996 has been designed so that a few rules and regulations can be kept in place in order to protect the private medical records of the patient. The Department of Health and Human Services has declared that it is illegal for companies, which are dealing in the private medical information of patients to divulge or transfer this kind of information to any unknown entity.
There are a large number of companies and entities, which come under the purview of HIPAA. Most of the organizations, which come under the purview of this act, are involved in the transfer, storage as well as distribution of all kinds of medical as well as health care information in any possible format. These companies are known as covered entities and they are directly affected by the federal laws, which come under this act, and the customers who are being served by these health care entities are also coming under the purview of this act.
Companies which are involved in activities like medical transcription will come under the purview of HIPAA only when they perform any of the activities which come under HIPAA. In other ordinary circumstances, they will only be known as business associates and they do not directly come under the control of any covered entity and they also have the authorization to act on behalf of the covered entity. But a lot of differences exist between the state laws and the national laws. There are certain states, which say that a company, which is involved in the activity of medical transcription, will also be considered as a covered entity.
The normal course of action which takes place between the covered entities and the business associates is that the business associate will provide a written statement to the covered entity stating that al kinds of medical documents and records will be handled in a safe and proper manner and the confidentiality of these records will also be maintained in the right manner. All these terms will be a part of a written contract, which will be signed by both entities.
The rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA, will be very strict when it comes to the covered entities and the same case is also applicable to all the business associates. An additional assurance will be taken from the medical transcription companies in order to ensure the safety as well as the confidentiality of all the medical records, which are being handled by them. It is necessary for all companies which are involved in medical transcription activities to make sure that they have a readymade plan of action which will be implemented so they will not be violating any of the rules and regulations which come under HIPAA.
There are many freelancers who are involved in the field of medical transcription and they will be working under some contractors and they will also be indirectly providing some kind of help to the business associates. Even such people are governed by the rules and regulations, which come under HIPAA. They have access to confidential medical information about patients and they should ensure the safety of this information and it should not be transmitted to any unauthorized person.
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