Ways to Protect Medical Billing PHI

Transcription is a large factor in medical billing. A lot of medical transcription is hired outside of physician’s office. This can leave a lot of room for internet criminals to steal valuable PHI information used in your medical billing. Protecting your patient’s PHI not only protects your practice, but also protects their identity. There are several steps you can take to protect your patients’ medical billing PHI.

The ability for criminals to obtain PHI has increased over the recent years and made it necessary to install security measures. You may know what your medical billing security practices are, but you must also know what those practices are for your transcription firm. A simple way to find this out is to have them fill out a survey that ensures the privacy of all your medical billing information.

Another step you can take to ensure the protection of medical billing PHI is to clearly state your terms upfront. Don’t leave anything to guesswork. Be sure the medical billing transcription firm understand your expectations and requirements before you allow them access to PHI.

One of the most important steps to take when protecting medical billing PHI is to sensor your email. Be sure you don’t have any confidential information in a non-encrypted email. If you must send PHI over email, be sure that it is attached with a password protected file. The only thing worse than having someone break into your email, is having someone break into your email AND get confidential information.

Medical billing is already a sensitive field. When you throw the outsourcing of transcription work on top of that, things can get ugly. Make sure you take all the necessary precautions to ensure your patients’ medical billing PHI information is safe when working with a transcription company.

View all Articles by: Melissa Clark, CCS-P