Medical answering services are the first point of contact for a medical facility. They are a critical part of the medical industry, and sometimes their importance is overlooked. A medical office answering service is not only a gateway to the facility. They also take care of patient health insurance, appointment reminders, and follow-ups. Telemed Inc is a leading HIPAA-compliant medical answering service.
Protecting your sensitive data is critical when you run a medical practice, a medical office answering service, or a medical research organization. Medical records and patient information must be stored securely. Telemed Inc takes every precaution to protect information and data, instilling trust in services.
A medical office answering service is a service that provides incoming calls to a doctor’s office or other healthcare facilities. A medical answering service can also be called an answering service or a call center.
Medical offices are required by law to have an answering service because of the strict protection of health information (PHI). Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996, requiring that patients’ PHI be kept confidential.
What Is a Medical Office Answering Service?
A medical office answering service is a business that provides various services for medical offices. These services may include answering calls, scheduling appointments, and taking messages for the doctor or staff. The main function of an answering service is to provide a professional, efficient way for patients to contact their doctors’ offices.
What Is HIPAA?
Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in 1996 as an amendment to the Social Security Act. HIPAA was created to protect patient privacy and provide security for medical information used in healthcare facilities across the country. This law was designed to protect patients from healthcare fraud and abuse and ensure that hospitals and doctors maintain strict confidentiality when handling patient records. It also prevents unauthorized disclosure of personal health information by healthcare providers, insurance companies, health plans, pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), clearinghouses, and other entities that handle protected health information (PHI).
How Did HIPAA Come About?
This law aims to protect patient privacy, keep health information secure, and give patients access to their medical records. The HIPAA Privacy Rule defines electronically protected health information (ePHI) as any information in electronic form that relates to healthcare services for individuals. This includes medical records and billing information stored or transmitted on computers or other electronic media such as CD-ROMs or floppy disks, emails, patient portals, and handwritten notes made on paper or in electronic format.
HIPAA Compliant Medical Answering Service
Telemed Inc is dedicated to providing HIPAA-compliant services as a medical office answering service. Our team of professionals is trained to handle all aspects of HIPAA compliance. From protecting your PHI to ensuring that your incoming calls are handled professionally and courteously. We know that patients want their privacy protected at all times, so we work diligently with our clients to ensure they can rest easy knowing their PHI is secure when using our services.
In today’s world, everyone must understand the importance of protecting sensitive information like health care data.
Non-HIPAA Compliant Answering Services Are Risky For a Medical Office
The penalties for non-compliance with HIPAA are steep; they can amount to $1 million per violation or even more. Another risk is choosing an unsecured answering service for your medical office. One such risk is putting patient information at risk from hackers and scammers who may try to gain access to your data through unsecured lines or by impersonating employees.
In addition, non-HIPAA compliant answering services provide no assurance that calls will be answered by trained operators who know how best to handle sensitive information like names and addresses or medical history questions. As a result, patients may lose faith in the ability of a practice to protect their health information.
Strict Protection of Health Information (PHI)
Telemed Inc is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information. We have safeguards to protect against the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information we collect. We use physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, use, and modification. Our employees are trained to maintain our customers’ account information confidentiality.
Place Your Trust In TeleMed Inc
Using a medical answering service is crucial to protect all of your patient’s private information. With this being said, it is essential to make your business fully compliant with the law and knowledgeable about handling patient information. This article has discussed everything you need to know about HIPAA and patient privacy, helping you stay on the right side of the law at all times with your medical office answering service. Place your trust in Telemed Inc!