HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is now over twenty years old. Two decades ago, leading healthcare call centers studied the then-new and off-times confusing HIPAA regulations. To them HIPAA compliance matters, both then and today.
These advance healthcare call centers learned how HIPAA applied to them as a business associate (BA) of their clients, which HIPAA defines as covered entities (CE). These forward-thinking medical call centers took HIPAA seriously, investing a great deal of money and countless hours of time to make sure they were in full compliance from day one.
First Responders
Too many call centers took a wait-and-see approach to HIPAA when it was announced and implemented two decades ago. Others, fully aware of what was at stake, took a calculated risk to ignore these wide-ranging requirements. They expected to skirt the issue and hoped they wouldn’t get caught—or fined.
However, medical call centers committed to serving the healthcare industry embraced HIPAA. They realized that HIPAA compliance matters. They emerged as early adapters, the first responders to this regulation, something that too many other providers tried to ignore. Their early embrace of HIPAA regulations paid off then, and it pays off now, with their healthcare clients benefiting from their long experience and significant expertise.
Proven Processes
With over two decades of HIPAA experience, these progressive healthcare call centers have developed proven processes over the years. Though a bit tentative at first—because no one fully comprehended HIPAA when it was passed—these companies established and fine-tuned their processes to be in full compliance and beyond.
By now HIPAA compliance is embedded into the DNA of who these medical call centers are and what they do. HIPAA compliance matters so much that it has become their standard operating procedure. In fact, the best medical call centers go beyond HIPAA requirements, honing their processes as an industry best practice.
Establish Procedures
Couple closely with processes are procedures. Because HIPAA compliance matters, these call centers worked hard to establish procedures that met and exceeded the HIPAA expectations of the governmental regulators, as well as their clients in the healthcare industry and the patients who call.
Though HIPAA compliance never leaves their minds or disappears from their view, their processes are so finetuned and ingrained into everything they do, that compliance emerges subconsciously as second nature to everything in their operation.
Summary
Too many call centers still fumble to comply with HIPAA regulations. Some don’t care, others don’t understand, and a few attempt shortcuts. They have fallen short, and they continue to do so. Fortunately, other healthcare call centers stand out as the exception.
For them, two decades of HIPAA compliance matters because they are healthcare call centers that embraced HIPAA since its inception. They have a long history of compliance, innovation, and exceeding expectations. As first responders to this ground-breaking regulation, they have amassed a proven history of meeting and exceeding the legal regulations and patient expectations of HIPAA. Over the years they have developed proven processes and established well-honed procedures to ensure that adhering to HIPAA regulations is part of all they do. For them HIPAA compliance matters, and they prove this on every call, every day.
Learn how medical answering service from MedConnectUSA can help your practice, clinic, or facility. Then get a free quote to discover how affordable their healthcare communication services are. Peter Lyle DeHaan is a freelance writer and call center authority.