A recent Orlando Sentinel report alerted patients of one of Florida Hospital Medical Group’s practices that their personal data may have been compromised because a transcription services company had used an unencrypted email account to send some patient medical records back to doctors’ offices.
We want you to know that this was not Consultants Health Care Services, Inc.
At CHCS, accuracy and patient confidentiality are paramount. CHCS uses a secure web portal for the delivery of transcription reports. Our clients access the web portal to securely download their reports either to their printer or directly into their EMR.
Florida Hospital Medical Group is the physician-practice arm of Florida Hospital. According to the Sentinel article by Naseem S. Miller (4-9-16), the group issued a news release saying they had no reason to believe patient information was compromised. However, the unencrypted emails contained names, birth dates, medications and other information.
The group has stopped using the transcription company and is reviewing all vendors to ensure their practices meet federal requirements.
If you are a medical practice concerned about the security of your patients’ information, here are some questions you should ask your transcription service:
- Does the transcription service understand HIPAA and have systems in place to assure you and your patients that all work is handled according to HIPAA requirements?
- Does the transcription service provide you with secure communication for dictation, transcription and any other information transmission?
- Will the transcription service take all possible steps to assure that your patient data is safe and secure?
- Does the transcription service regularly review its security protocols and update them as necessary and appropriate?
If your transcription service cannot answer yes to all of these questions, your data may be at risk. Contact us to arrange for a no-obligation consultation to find out how we can help.
