Summary of the OCR Privacy Rule

With the consideration that patient health information should be safeguarded at all times, the OCR has established its privacy rules that indicate the principles and ethics regarding the subject of patient health safety rules and regulations. Individually identifiable health information evolves over the patient’s mental or physical health that ranges over the past, present and future, the payment of healthcare with detailed information as to the patient’s identity and other personal information. The Privacy Rule does not include health information of the patient or individual held by a covered entity. The disclosure of de-identified health information of an individual has no restrictions and de-identification of information can be determined only by an expert statistician or if identifiers of the patient is removed by the family, relations or by the employer and can be effected if the covered entity has no information on the individual. 

The OCR Privacy Rule determines the principles for disclosure and uses of a patient’s health information. Covered entities are not authorized to use or disclose an individual’s health information unless permitted by a written power of attorney authorized by the patient or individual. A disclosure of health information of an individual is allowed only on an investigation of the HHS or by the request of relations of the said individual. The permitted disclosures and uses of a patient’s health information can be accessed only upon a request from the individual, for payment operations, for the intention of research, for the opportunity to disagree or agree and for the interest of the public or that which may benefit the public. 

The uses and disclosures of protected health information of an individual are allowed for listing in the covered healthcare facility directory on an informal request. The incidental use and disclosure of the healthcare information can be used by covered entities only “minimum necessary” as is required with the necessary safeguards taken by the covered entity according to the Privacy Rule. The health information of the patient can used or disclosed for notification and other purposes to the person or relation who is directly involved in the health care of the patient, to the pharmacist for dispensing the medication and for notification reasons to public or private entities who are authorized by charter or  law in assisting disaster relief efforts.

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308 

Specialty Services in Medical Transcription

Do you know that many medical transcription companies offer specialty transcription services? It is important to note that specialty services range over all medical specialties and sub specialties. V Transcription based in Belden, MS, offers medical transcription and its specialties with ease, excellence and ethics to give their clients competitive pricing and convenience. In rendering specialized services in medical transcription, V Transcription comprises of a team of specialized medical transcriptionists who render efficient specialty medical transcription covering all specialties and the latest in technology with:

• HIPAA/HITECH compliant healthcare transcription
• 99% accuracy
• 25/7 support
• Document flow management software
• 3 levels of quality control
• Toll free number
• Dictation options
• 256 bit AES encryption protocol
• Transfer of files through FTP
• Competitive pricing
• 3 levels of quality control
• Customized TAT
• EMR interface
• Security and confidentiality
• Full document flow management
• HL7
• Volume
• Quick TAT

Geared to handle specialty services in medical transcription, V Transcription as a professionally qualified medical transcription company offers hospitals, clinics, surgeons, physicians, healthcare modules and providers professional online transcription services. Delivering confidential and secure specialty transcription with confidence and knowledge, V Transcription adheres to HIPAA and HITECH norms with expert transcriptionists catering customized specialty transcription services with domain expertise leaving the core outsourcing company to strengthen their core businesses. V Transcription works with every medical specialty to streamline costs for their clients. Ensuring ethics and privacy for all medical records, V Transcription offers a wide range of specialties and transcription services. 

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308 

Solutions for Covered Entities

Giving healthcare the security and the protection that it needs, the HIPAA Privacy Rule safeguards the confidentiality of patients’ healthcare information. The HIPAA Rule also offers federal protection of the confidential healthcare information maintained by covered entities with innumerable rights for the patient with regard to their personal health data. Ranging over technical, administrative and physical safeguards, the Security Rule offers these protective measures with electronic transfer of health records to covered entities to maintain the privacy and integrity of health records. With violations and insecurity of health records, the HIPAA Privacy Rule assures patients of protecting their personal information to ensure safety and prevent damage.

With covered entities being health plans, healthcare providers and clearing houses, the Administrative Simplification standards especially selected by the Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) would apply to any of the covered entities. The Privacy Rule is flexible and is able to handle disclosure of health information according to the situation involved in a balanced manner. There are many facts that covered entities need to be aware of with one of them being that a signed patient authorization is not needed when sharing health information for treatment. Incidental disclosures do not infringe or break the Privacy Rule according to the modifications made to the Privacy Rule in August 2002.

The Privacy Rule also allows the patient or the individual to share health information with family, relations and friends according to their preferences. Basic information may be shared about the general condition, the room number, being listed in hospital directory with the information about the patient being given to visitors, the clergy and the phone number if the patient does not object. The Privacy Rule allows the reporting of child abuse to government authorities and communication is allowed with the patient through telephone, facsimile and email. A Notice of Privacy Practices regarding the rights under the new rules and usage of personal health information will be given to the patient to sign and acknowledge. Covered providers and health plans should know the Privacy Rule regulations and its limits on how to use individually identifiable health information in order to promote the best quality care and security.

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308 

Showcasing Integrity and Quality in Medical Transcription Outsourcing

With healthcare as the center focus in the medical world, medical professionals are concentrating on improving the health of not only elderly citizens, but also that of the middle-aged, the adolescents and the young children. With healthcare as a burgeoning demand, the need for healthcare services is on the rise. Medical personnel have channeled energies to cope with the ever-changing scenario with increased and improved healthcare facilities, administration and development of medical care units. Medical transcription outsourcing has become the need of the day that would not only save time and reduce resources but would also provide security of patient records, confidentiality and accuracy with skilled resources and a cost-effective approach.  

It is of no doubt that the integrity and the quality of medical transcription outsourcing would benefit healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities. In spite of the huge investments and commitments in outsourcing medical transcription, it is a prudent decision that guarantees success. As a professional medical transcription company comprises of expertise, experience and a pool of skilled resources, existing customers can vouch for their quality and accuracy, intense training methodology and past records. Reliable medical transcription companies often offer benefits such as a money back guarantee within 30 days if their customers are not satisfied with their services, a toll-free number and dictation options with quick TAT or turnaround time. With the latest technology as a dependable platform, a savvy medical transcription company would infuse transfer of files through FTP, 256 bit AES encryption protocol, RIS/PACS applications, 128-bit SSL certified platform to ensure privacy and confidentiality, comprehensive workflow management with HL7 and EHR/EMR integration.

A reliable medical transcription company would offer customized medical transcription, a range of transcription solutions and multi-specialty transcription with a full-lifecycle outsourced medical transcription solution for medical records documentation. With confidentiality of clinical documentation being a vital aspect in medical transcription, a quality medical transcription company would adhere to HIPAA standards and the HITECH Act besides upgrading their knowledge of all the latest updates. Ranging out advantages  with easy-to-use technology, health information management, EMR besides handling risk management and reasonable prices would go towards underlining quality and integrity in medical transcription outsourcing. 

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308 

Reasons for Efficient Operations in Medical Transcription Outsourcing

Inventions, innovation and instant information have been the key to efficient operations in medical transcription outsourcing. In a world where progress churns on a constant axis, the health of the public in general has been safeguarded to offer better care, timely delivery of reports and effective services in a professional manner. Traversing a journey of old practices, obsolete methods and the latest technology, medical transcription outsourcing has delivered advanced progress with the advent of new knowledge, honing skills and integration of the latest technology.

With the passage of time and the implementation of software and tools for medical transcription, medical transcription outsourcing has been an efficacious agent for  acting as an agent for efficient operations. Useful and necessary for decision making medical records have been transcribed by medical transcriptionists for healthcare facilities and healthcare professionals to document the care process of patients. As a convenient method, the skilled transcriptionists create patient medical records derived from the dictation of the healthcare professionals. Medical transcription when outsourced adheres to the standards of the outsourcing company besides falling in line with HIPAA and HITECH compliant rules and regulations.

Deploying a specialized process outsourced medical transcription services offer fast turnaround time with quality to healthcare professionals and healthcare facilities. With an exclusive, skilled and unique team of talented professionals, the medical transcription company offers value, support and productivity to lend healthcare professionals the freedom of concentrating on patient care. Giving their clients ease-of-use, the medical transcription companies utilize the latest and convenient technology for collecting dictation files and delivery of the same with delivering transcripts to specified folders, electronic signatures, archives that enable easy search and many other features. 

Outsourcing medical transcription has streamlined costs and operations giving the outsourcing company the opportunity to save money without being burdened by official rules and regulations. Integrating EMR, health information management, software and tools for medical transcription, HIPAA, HITECH, HL7 interface with easy-to-use technology, outsourced medical transcription also offers the convenience of specialty medical transcription without compromising on time, value and quality. Using the benefit of best practices, outsourced medical transcription offers a skilled and highly trained pool of resources to leverage accurate document delivery modes and maintain safer transcription practices.

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308 

Microsoft Backs Up Office 365 with HIPAA, EU Data Privacy Protection

Utilizing its versatility and innovation as a technology provider, Microsoft has opened new horizons by strengthening Office 365 with HIPAA and EU Data Privacy Protection.  With its Cloud Office 365 platform conforming to HIPAA and European Union privacy regulations, Microsoft’s chief health strategy officer, Dr. Dennis Schmuland announces that, "When you have a cloud provider like Microsoft, we basically have to run that in parallel and make sure we can report to them any incident, so that they're made aware of it in a reasonable amount of time”.   

Securing operations with incident-reporting capabilities, Office 365 includes features innovative modules that display data breaches that come under the HIPAA provisions in the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act.  Conforming to the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA and European Union data privacy regulations in its Cloud Office 365 platform, Microsoft has integrated productivity and smart solutions. According to HIPAA rules, Office 365 also exhibits channels that allow business associates to sign contracts that specify ways of usage of safeguarding data and health information.

As required by HIPAA, Office 365 also allows "business associates" to sign contracts specifying how they will use health information and safeguard the data. European Commission's Data Protection Directive where companies should create and implement model clause provisions that illustrates protection of patient information. Microsoft’s innovation has come to the fore with the fact that they have set a high standard bar with a more detailed data processing agreement than what was formerly required by the EU. In a joint venture with GE, the company plans to develop and integrate an interoperable platform where clinical applications can be developed by software vendors to embed SharePoint and Lync into the developed software. Microsoft’s chief health strategy officer, Dr. Dennis Schmuland said, "This announcement is a good example of how Microsoft is embedding health capabilities into our existing products and platforms to expand the use and to allow more innovation—so our commitment to health has never been greater".

For more information, visit http://www.usmedicaltranscriptionservice.com/ or call 1-800-723-4308