 With
the revisions to the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), Congress made sweeping
changes to the way the health care industry does
business. As a Business Associate to some of the
country’s largest and most prominent healthcare
organizations, MEDFONE took great organizational
strides to ensure that we met the HIPAA Privacy
requirements by the April 14, 2003 deadline. In fact, we
were acknowledged as a leader in the field for creating
Standard Business Associate Agreements.
Additionally, MEDFONE has continued to maintain
full HIPAA compliance with the recently completed HIPAA
Security requirements by April 20, 2005.
The HIPAA Security Standards require MEDFONE to
protect the security of patients' electronic medical
information through the use of procedures and mechanisms
that protect the confidentiality, integrity, and
availability of information. MEDFONE has put into
place administrative, physical, and technical safeguards
that will protect electronic health information that
MEDFONE collects, maintains, uses, and transmits.
To ensure that the privacy of your patients is
protected, in compliance with HIPAA, MEDFONE
maintains the following:
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◊
HIPAA-Trained Staff
◊ Fully-digital, Secure Technology
◊ Secure Processing of Voice and Data Information
◊ Secure, Long-term, Digital Storage of Records
◊ HIPAA Compliant Information Transfer via
Electronic Mediums
◊ Password Protected Access to Information
◊ Multiple Levels of Technology and Data Back-up
and Storage (on-site and off-site)
◊ Back-ups for Facility Utilities (Battery and Gas
Generator Back-up)
◊ Telephony and Internet Provider and Route
Diversity
◊ Disaster Recovery Plans |
Since 1979, MEDFONE is proud of the fact that we
have never had an incident in which the privacy of our
caller has been compromised and we have every intention
of continuing that streak by dedicating all necessary
resources to ensure that we remain HIPAA compliant.
The following links provide an excellent resource of HIPAA related information:
American Medical Association: www.ama-assn.org/go/hipaa
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: www.cms.hhs.gov/hipaa
Office of Civil Rights:
www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa
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