Medical Billing Service Privacy Policies

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was instituted by the U.S. Congress in 1996 as a means of regulating confidentiality and privacy standards as they apply to patient health care information. Under HIPAA, medical billing agencies are held to stringent privacy policies that must be adopted by the organization.

Confidentiality

• Medical billing representatives handle patient information on a regular basis. Patient information is highly sensitive and protected under HIPAA. As such, patient confidentiality must be maintained at all times. That means medical billing employees must never discuss patients outside of work.

Disclosures

• Medical billing services are not allowed to disclose patient information to outside entities unless the information is subpoenaed by legal authorities. One exception to this is that information can be exchanged between the billing service and the doctor's office where the claim was filed from.

Office Behaviors

• Certain office behaviors are expected from medical billing staff in order to maintain patient privacy. For instance, it is a violation of the HIPAA Privacy Rule to leave patient information unattended and exposed at printers, fax or copy machines. Paperwork must be retrieved as soon as it is printed, faxed or copied.

Security Measures

• Medical billing staff must lock their computers when they are not at their workstation. Patient information is often stored electronically, so by locking computers personnel are keeping electronic information safe.