Thursday, November 22, 2007

HIPAA Compliant Medical Transcription Service

Medical transcription is a healthcare documentation specialty. Using this method, the medical records of the patients are transferred into electronic form. Whether it is clinical note, surgery report, consultation note, X-ray report, referral letter, laboratory report, discharge summary, or psychiatric evaluation note, qualified medical transcriptionists will take care of it.

With the growing popularity of medical transcription services, many big and small companies have emerged in the field. Organizations dealing with electronic healthcare records should not only protect the electronic data, but the printed and oral versions of the document as well. HIPAA compliance is vital for establishments where business functions are carried out electronically. HIPAA, or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a federal law. It covers three sets of rules which include administrative simplification (transactions and code sets), privacy, and security. These new federal regulations ensure privacy and security of all medical records and information about the patient.

Important requirements of HIPAA for a Medical Transcription Company:


Medical Transcription Service Organizations are expected to ensure the security and confidentiality of patient’s Protected Health Information (PHI). MTSOs were further required to maintain an audit trail of all individuals who accessed patient’s PHI. This necessitated the implementation of new technology and business processes to be ensured as the two key requirements by transcription service providers.

HIPAA compliant medical transcription services are designed to meet the requirements of big and small clinics, health centers, and hospitals. Whatever many be the size or type of the healthcare establishments, all must get full operational compliance from HIPAA, both at state and federal levels.

In the current scenario, medical transcription companies which are HIPAA compliant are in great demand. Some of the advantages of HIPAA compliant medical transcription outsourcing service are



  • Avoids fines and criminal penalties

  • Customer and industry confidence

  • Streamlined process workflow

  • Public exposure risk is low

  • Increased data efficiency