HIPAA Compliance

M-Scribe is committed to implementing the required policies, procedures and systems in response to the requirements of the HIPAA Final Rule of February 20, 2003. Under this, M-Scribe shall meet the requirements as set forth therein by the dates and deadlines imposed by the Final Rules. These areas include but are not limited to: (1) standards for administrative simplification, including the standards for electronic transactions, the national standard healthcare provider identifier, and the national standard employer identifier; (2) standards for electronic signatures and the security of electronic individually identifiable health information; and (3) standards for privacy of individually identifiable health information. M-Scribe has developed and implemented the necessary Business Associate Agreement, protocols, methods, practices, software and other measures which insure meeting the security required for the maintenance of the confidentiality of PIH (Protected Health Information) as well as the security and encryption methods and applications to insure the security of our systems, products, applications and networks.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has had a profound impact on the healthcare industry. HIPAA mandates the establishment of standards governing the security and privacy of individually identifiable protected health information (PHI) that is electronically transmitted or maintained by providers, payers and clearinghouses.

While HIPAA does not address medical transcription or medical transcriptionists directly, it does, however, state that any business or individual who provides services to a “Covered Entity” (hospital, clinic, etc.) will be deemed to be a “Business Associate” for HIPAA purposes if they access PHI during the course of their work. Business Associates must take steps, and document those steps, to secure and keep confidential the PHI while it is in their custody.

As your business partner, M-Scribe will mirror the responsibilities you have as a Business Associate and can even help you achieve HIPAA compliance. Three of the most important features of the proposed regulations — as they relate to medical transcription — cover the subjects of transmission, protection and accountability of PHI.

Transmission: M-Scribe systems are designed for secure, fully encrypted transmission of PHI in both voice and text formats. Currently, many secure formats are in operation, all of which ensure 128-bit encryption.

Protection: M-Scribe takes a multi-faceted approach to protection of PHI in its domain. Access to data by company personnel and third party contractors is controlled by clear protocols and contracts detailing privacy requirements as well as sophisticated username/password rule sets which ensure clear data segregation and limited access as required solely to perform work required.

Accountability: All employees are trained on privacy requirements, and compliance is ensured via contract and ongoing audit procedures. The M-Scribe proprietary workflow engine provides a point-to-point audit trail for every individual job, enabling the company to manage compliance with its privacy procedures at each step of the transcription process.

M-Scribe works to ensure compliance with HIPAA within a distributed workflow model designed to bridge the growing gap between demand for transcription services and the shrinking supply of qualified medical transcriptionists in the U.S. As long as all work can be transmitted and protected in the ways described above and accountability is ensured, then compliance will have been fully met by the Business Associate. M-Scribe is committed to exceeding HIPAA compliance regulations. We not only look at current requirements but also anticipate future requirements in order to stay one step ahead. We will continue to expand our technology to provide our clients with the latest in PHI security