Discover why 9 out of 10 doctors prefer MASAi as their HIPAA Compliant Answering Service. We know how important it is to keep sensitive patient health information safe, and your medical office is a place that your patients trust. When you allow our answering service to help you handle overflow calls and direct emergency patients, we protect patient data.
When was HIPAA Introduced?
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced and passed in 1996. It is a federal law and was enacted to sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the prior knowledge or consent of the patient. It was also put into place to help combat fraud, waste, and abuse in healthcare insurance and delivery.
It is often confused with the Hippocratic Oath – a pledge that medical providers take to uphold ethical standards in the medical field and provide healthcare to those who need it. While the two names can feel similar (and they are both medical terms) their meaning is very different.
How Has HIPAA Affected the Medical Industry?
HIPAA has made the medical industry a safer and more secure place. Electronic protected health information has also played a part in the continued evolution of the service, ensuring that patient data is kept safe regardless of the methods they use to get in touch with physicians. Our automated answering service is dedicated to upholding HIPAA and complying with all data protection laws.
Higher standards for the recording of medical data and electronic transactions has been beneficial for everyone in the field as well as patients. HIPAA has helped to streamline administrative healthcare functions, improve efficiency in the healthcare industry, and ensure protected health information is shared securely.
It has been nothing but positive change, and the knowledge that information is always private and secure has left patients feeling able to open up more to their physicians.
Does an Answering Service have to be HIPAA Compliant?
Having a HIPAA compliant answering service is a legal requirement if that answering service will be working with medical offices. Answering services providing services to hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, nursing facilities, and other companies in the healthcare industry must meet these strict security and privacy requirements.
This is to protect the privacy and wellbeing of the patients who call looking for emergency advice and appointments. If you end up working with an answering service that us not compliant with HIPAA, not only are you breaking the law but you are also risking the trust and privacy of your patients. It’s not a good look for medical offices.
Why Non HIPAA Compliant Answering Services are Risky
With us, you never need to worry about HIPAA violations and medical practices remain in excellent hands thanks to our secure messaging and the way in which we protect patient privacy. Ensuring we remain HIPAA compliant is part of makes us such a reliable service.
Since we are an automated answering service, there is no concern about human error when patients your are trying to get through to you.
We make sure physicians are notified immediately when there is an urgent call and we give the doctor the ability to return the phone call without needing to block their phone number. Just as we protect patient health information, we protect yours too.
As a medical professional, you deserve your privacy even when you are dealing with emergency calls. HIPAA doesn’t just give your patients peace of mind with regards to their personal health information, it is there to protect you as well.
Using a medical answering service that isn’t HIPAA compliant means you run the risk of confidential information being leaked. Even using cell phones and other devices in a way that is not HIPAA compliant is risky. Your patient’s health and concerns are no longer private, and you have no idea where that information will end up – whether it’s in an online data file or spread through gossip by the workers at the call centers.
An answering service like ours not only understands the healthcare industry, it is also dedicated to the protection of patients and medical experts alike. We use secure messaging that follows the law to the letter, promising peace of mind and a compliant answering service you can trust.
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The Importance of Protected Health Information (PHI)
Our health is our business, and it should be kept private. It is up to the individual whether or not they want to share health information with other people, and certainly not the choice of the medical office they go to. Not only is health information an identifiable form of data that can lead to serious personal leaks, but our health can be both sensitive and embarrassing.
The right to privacy is one that we all possess, and this is why your patients need the reassurance that their data is protected when they use HIPAA compliant answering services such as ours. Not only that, but your privacy as healthcare providers is equally important, and that is why we work to protect both parties at all times.
How Our Answering Services are HIPAA Compliant (And How They Benefit You)
With our HIPAA-compliant medical answering service, we ensure your patient confidentiality at all times. We understand that every call is vital for your facility, which is why we are here to receive calls 24/7 so that you avoid missing important calls during weekends, evenings, lunch, or after hours.
We are able to answer multiple physicians regardless of their schedule. We center services around you, and we will make sure patient calls always reach your chosen device.
We’re not like a live answering service. We’re better, more accurate, faster, and we have the expertise to cater to doctors offices across the country thanks to our decades of industry knowledge.
With our 100% HIPAA compliant physicians answering service for medical professionals, we ensure that every call is answered on the first ring, no matter what.
We follow up with the on-call physician for all urgent phone calls and we give customers the choice between various escalation options in the event a physician cannot be reached. We make sure to go above and beyond to look after you and your patients.
Since we are HIPAA compliant, we also protect patient information with all patients calls and ensure that your small business is taken care of no matter the day or time. We understand the importance behind HIPAA compliance and the fact that it remains one of the most essentials aspects of any medical practice.
Not only do we work in accordance with the Accountability Act and the Clinical Health Act, we also ensure that we are HIPAA compliant at all times and carry out regular checks on this.
We’re not like other answering services. Instead, we charge a monthly flat rate of $69. There are no hidden fees and there will not be additional charges per call or message.
Health insurance portability also means that your patients have peace of mind and you have confidence when using our services. We’re here to support healthcare providers as well as the people they care for. Make sure you call us on (800) 929-1202 to utilize our medical answering service and begin providing exceptional support for your patient’s calls.
We’ve been providing services to health providers since 1991, and with 96.9% of our customers staying with us, it’s easy to see that we know what we’re doing. What happens to the few that leave? Well, it’s because they retire – we’re here with you throughout your career.
The best part is that we have a 14-day free trial so that you can test out our answering service and see if it’s the right fit for you. With full HIPAA compliance and excellent reviews, we’re a company you can trust, and our free trial will prove just that.
