The Importance of HIPAA Compliance in Call Centers
Improve Patient Experience with scalable contact center solutions.
Businesses that collect health information have the obligation to comply with HIPAA.Then what if it’s not your business collecting the health information, but your outsourced call center? Then that call center needs to be a HIPAA-compliant call center.
Any violations of HIPAA by that call center can cause not only civil and criminal penalties but also reputational damage that can undo a lot of the trust that your business has earned with clients and partners.
In an ever changing technological and regulatory environment it can be tricky understanding HIPAA requirements. Then what does it take to be a HIPAA compliant call center?
Outsourcing Solutions
What we can do for you & your patients
Our services include:
- Scheduling
- Data Entry
- Survey
- Follow-ups
- Verification
- Triage
What It Takes to be HIPAA-Compliant
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA is a federal law that sets the standards for organizations that collect protected health information or PHI.
When it comes to HIPAA compliance for call centers, the rules dictate how the data is to be handled with the aim of maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of patient data.
Patient confidentiality and data integrity can take the form of secure storage of patient data in servers accessible only to agents knowledgeable with HIPAA requirements who will handle the data directly. Other measures for data security include data and password encryption.
Advantages of HIPAA-Compliant Call Centers
What do you gain from working with HIPAA-Compliant call centers like Pac-Biz?
The most important effect is trust. Other vendors are more likely to work with you when you are HIPAA compliant because of the strict standards of privacy and security required by HIPAA.
HIPAA also improves efficiency by enabling a standardized procedure of doing business and this has a knock on effect on patient and customer satisfaction.
HIPAA Compliance Specifics
In contracting the services of a HIPAA-compliant call center, it is useful to know the specific rules required by HIPAA in the collection and processing of health records and information.
The two relevant rules are as follows:
1. The Privacy Rule
- This includes having designated personnel responsible for developing privacy policies to ensure compliance to the “minimum necessary” use and disclosure as required by HIPAA
- Regular Workforce Training to ensure agents are familiar with HIPAA protocols and kept updated on rule changes.
2. The Security Rule
- This includes data encryption of servers to ensure that the data is only accessible by those authorized to see it.
- Secure mobile phone use to prevent leaks of patient data
Outsource to a HIPAA-Compliant Call Center
Complying with the requirements in detail in-house can be daunting. One of the better ways to be compliant is by outsourcing to a HIPAA-compliant call center.
Pac-Biz will provide quality HIPAA compliant call center services, along with chat, email, and social media support, ensuring patients’ information always remains confidential and they have the best experience with the highest quality assistance. Clients will be provided a personal account manager for updates on operations. Plus, our Quality Assurance (QA) department ensures agent performance remains above standard together with regular call scoring.
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