Why Is Hipaa Important To Medical Transcription?

As a medical transcriptionist, it's your responsibilityshould have a computer dedicated solely to your
to protect the privacy of every patient recordtranscription work.
you come into contact with. That's why HIPAA,Now here's an important question to consider- is
the Health Insurance Portability and Accountabilityyour home computer properly set up to help you
Act, was created in 1996.stay HIPAA compliant? To protect patient
The act is a grouping of regulations that strive toconfidentiality and ensure your job security, equip
combat abuse and fraud in health insurance andyour computer with at least the following:
health care delivery. The law also has an- Secure, password protected email and FTP sites
administrative section with specific requirements- Firewall protection
for the electronic transmission of health- Regular Windows updates involving computer
information. Since medical transcriptionists receive,security
send and store confidential patient data, it's- File encryption software
essential they recognize and adhere to HIPAAThere are other ways to ensure file protection,
rules on privacy, security and confidentiality at allso visit your local computer software store to
times. Benefits of following HIPAA regulationsbetter understand your options.
include guaranteed security of patient records,In addition to a secure computer, equip your
data efficiency plus increased customer andwork area with explanatory HIPAA reference
industry confidence.publications. Online medical transcription training
So, how do you maintain HIPAA compliance? Ifprograms, like the comprehensive program at
you work in-house for a medical facility, protocolAllied Medical School, may include helpful HIPAA
for following HIPAA requirements will probably beguides that you can keep. If you don't have one,
set up for you. However, if you work fromcheck out the American Health Information
home, you'll need to set up your set ofManagement Association's (AHIMA) online book
precautions. For example, work in an area of yourstore for a selection of great resources.
home that's private - no one should be able toFollow a security protocol at home, in a medical
hear the dictation you're transcribing. Also, if youfacility and with your computer - you'll work more
use a family computer to complete your work,effectively, stay HIPAA compliant and keep your
make sure all your transcription files are protectedmedical transcription career on track.
by using a screen saver password. Ideally, you