HIPAA compliance in the office voice documentation system is mandatory to guarantee the safe processing of the patient health information over telephone lines. It is quite difficult in to safely process patient health details i over conventional telephone systems in the busy environment of the modern day office. The authorized user can make errors while noting down the patient health or insurance information and the privacy of such a information can also be compromised due such an environment.
A well designed voice documentation system should be installed in the office. This system should be able capture the call completely and store it as an voice file in electronic folder, which can be searched and accessed by authorized personnel.It should host recording features that allow the users to highlight portion of the recordings, add comments or notes and share the information with other authorized users. This feature provides flexibility to the end users and provides a verification backup, which can be used to set right any communication or documentation errors pertaining to patient health information.
To ensure HIPAA compliance in the voice documentation system it is necessary incorporate following features in it.
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- It should host a user authentication system which allows only the authorized personnel to access the voice files to accomplish the task.
- There should be detailed back up plan to protect the stored information and should be able to counter the security threat from hostile intrusion, whether it is a virus or hacker
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- A proper audit system should be in place to maintain a proper log of time, place and nature of information accessed by authorized users. This create accountability in the system and this in line with HIPAA compliance norm.
- The voice documents cannot be changed or deleted but can be added on with newer recordings. The integrity of the recorded call should be maintained.
- The voice file cannot leave the secure environment of the central pool and can be shared with other authorized users only through a link, which is sent to them in encrypted form via email.As a result the voice file cannot be downloaded but can only be heard from the central pool in playback version. This protects the integrity of the information stored by restricting its’ access to authorized personnel only.
The voice documentation system plays a crucial role in the daily processing of the patient health information, whether it is an insurance claim or fixing up an appointment with the doctor. The goal is to protect the privacy of the patient health information. A secure telephone recording system ensures HIPAA compliance and thus protects the covered entity from the liabilities in form of penalties and criminal prosecution.
A secure voice documentation system protects confidential patient health information.
