2/23/2010
It is often asked what one needs to be careful while choosing an outsourcing transcription company. In the medical industry, security and privacy are extremely important.
In outsourcing arrangements with services and healthcare vendors, you can check the vendor’s expertise and credibility by HIPAA compliance. Amongst all the rules that are stipulated by HIPAA, ones concerned with security, health care compliance and privacy are deemed to be important by outsourcing experts. The benefits include giving greater accuracy, data security, and absolute privacy for all of their patient's records and documents.
Look for a company that is HIPAA compliant and takes proper measures to ensure security, health care compliance and privacy. A good company will make sure that the sensitive information related to patients is handled with great care. From compliance training and secure systems to the confidentiality agreements, Transcription Companies cover all the aspects involved in the HIPAA regulations.
Transferred medical files should always be encrypted while moving between transcriptionists and medical providers. This will help to ensure absolute safety and privacy of the data.
Use of logged systems and high security firewalls restrict movement of information while locking it down to the system on which personnel works. You can also request the transcription company to work on your company’s servers too. They operate remotely through your computers, nullifying data theft risks. Email access is also banned or restricted for process managers working on healthcare projects while handling customer data. Access to USB and floppy drives is banned so that there is no privacy breach.
It is important to know that those who work for the company are qualified to work in the medical transcription industry. They must have knowledge of medical terms, procedures, and need to have completed training on international coding standards. Coders have various levels of expertise and experience. These coders are regularly updated with contemporary methodologies that work in the best interest of your company.
While hiring a transcription company, one of the most important things to look at is to ensure that the company has effective safeguards to keep private information secure. Also find out if the company does check backgrounds of their employees. They should have strict rules to find out the credibility of new employees; after all you do not want your company’s sensitive work to be handled by unreliable personnel.
Read Also: In-house vs. Outsourcing Medical Transcription: Which Is Better?