Medical Transcription Firms are Not All the Same

Before deciding on a medical transcription company there are some things that you should consider. Many medical transcription firms are outsourcing jobs outside the country to areas that lack regulation of confidentiality laws. This means that the potential for breaches of privacy and unauthorized access to your healthcare organization's sensitive medical data exist. TBT transcription service is U.S. based and HIPAA compliant. We work extensively to assure that our client files stay private and secure.

With offshore and outsourced medical transcription firms there is no guarantee that your healthcare organization's critical medical files are safe. Even if a company claims to be HIPAA compliant, there are often no regulating bodies in other countries to make sure that all steps are being taken to keep your information secure. Can you really afford to take that kind of risk with patient data? With TBT you'll have no worries. Our transcription company is based in the U.S. and employs all HIPAA standards. When you contract work to TBT, the first 30 days of transcription is a trial period. A transcription agreement, as well as a Business Associates Agreement, will be required before any transcription can be completed. These precautions assure that your medical information stays secure as per HIPAA regulations.

Medical Transcription Firms Need To Be HIPAA Compliant

Clients of TBT should be well aware of the Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) that require healthcare providers to put in place certain measures to guard the privacy and confidentiality of patient information. Under the privacy rule any medical transcription service should meet the following requirements:

Have written agreements with every subcontractor who receives protected health information from the client/service by which the subcontractors agree to protect the integrity and confidentiality of protected health information exchanged between the service and the client.
Have a contingency plan in place that provides for (1) data backup, (2) disaster recovery plan, and (3) emergency mode operation.
Have written policies and procedures establishing rules for granting access both inside and outside the organization) to protected health information.

TBT meets these requirements and has taken additional measures to ensure client compliance as well. We here at TBT believe medical transcription firms should do everything in their power to maintain client confidentiality and security. To assure our clients of the safety of their healthcare data we have instituted these additional safeguards:

Computers have been password protected to protect from unauthorized individuals gaining access to information.
Firewall software has been installed to ensure that IP addresses are “invisible” and not accessible from the Internet.
A secure server has been installed for file storage and electronic transfer of files.
All files are named with a code to ensure protection.
TBT has installed software with 128-bit encryption for the purpose of transferring files via email.
PcAnywhere software has been installed which is an encrypted and password protected program that allows the client to log in and transfer files directly from the secure server to the client’s computer.
TBT utilizes software that allows the server to be monitored to guard against any unauthorized access.
On all faxes TBT provides a warning to any individual not authorized to have access to the faxed information.
TBT will destroy all voice and text files when their retention is no longer necessary. In doing this the files will be destroyed in a manner that they cannot be restored.
TBT requires all subcontractors to enter into an agreement that ensures the confidentially of all files.

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Medical Transcription Firms are Not All the Same

Medical Transcription Firms Need To Be HIPAA Compliant

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