HIPAA, which is short for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), is a set of regulations that was put in place to protect patient information, among other objectives. HIPAA compliance is one of the main compliance concerns for medical insurance carriers, and it has to be followed by anyone who handles sensitive medical information.
In order to comply with these protocols, it’s important to ensure that all points of contact are properly trained and that systems are in place to ensure the safeguarding of PHI throughout every step of your operations. Non-compliance constitutes risk, and HIPAA violations can lead to legal ramifications and hefty fines.
However, following HIPAA regulations can be somewhat challenging, especially for firms who are running their own healthcare business or medical practice. They’re often inundated with other management challenges and ensuring compliance is better accomplished by outsourcing answering services to a reputable company that can alleviate the headache involved with maintaining compliance.
The following are potential pitfalls of using non-HIPAA compliant answering services, and how to ensure that you’re choosing a service that can keep your patients’ data secure.
