Code of Ethics for Medical Transcriptionists

As a medical transcriptionist, it is vital that you uphold a high level of ethics for both professional and legal reasons. You are dealing with highly personal information which cannot be shared with anyone else. These ethics relate not only to how you speak to others about your work, but how you receive, save and transmit information.

HIPAA

• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act covers much of your legal liability to act ethically as a medical transcriptionist. You may not be a Covered Entity under the definitions of HIPAA, but as a business associate you are probably expected to hold to the same standards. It is best to check with your employer or clients to determine what standards you are expected to maintain.

Accuracy

• One of the most important goals of an ethical medical transcriptionist is to provide accurate transcripts. Inaccurate reports can lead to poor medical care. Common mistakes include typing in the wrong drug name when two sound very similar or incorrectly expanding an acronym.

  A good medical transcriptionist knows what to do when it is not clear what the doctor said in a dictation. Most transcriptionists are allowed to put in blank spaces for anything that could not be understood, so the doctor can accurately fill in the blank. Guessing is not acceptable to an ethical medical transcriptionist.

Patient Confidentiality

• An ethical medical transcriptionist must respect patient confidentiality. This means never discussing patient information with others, even the patient himself or herself if you know the patient. Any information you receive as a part of your work is only for use in transcribing dictation.

Data Security

• Modern medical transcriptionists mostly send and receive their work over the internet. This makes data security of vital importance to you.

  Your computer should have a firewall, antivirus protection and antispyware connection. You should also send and receive data only over a secure connection. You will also need to know how to store or delete old reports. If you are working for a transcription service, they should have rules for you to follow. If you have your own clients, your contract with them will determine how long and if you should store data once it has been sent back to your client.

Professional Growth

• Medical transcription is a changing industry and it is to your benefit to grow as a professional. Not only are there changes in how you do your job as the industry moves toward electronic records, but there are constantly new drugs and procedures you need to be aware of as a transcriptionist. You can take classes to help you develop skills or research new products as they come along. Keeping in contact with your fellow medical transcriptionists through online forums can be tremendously helpful in hearing about anything new you need to be aware of.