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What is HIPAA?

The US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, referred to as HIPAA, contains many elements dealing with a broad range of health related issues, including patient privacy and security standards.

The privacy regulations were released to implement requirements of the administrative simplification section of HIPAA, requiring:

  • Standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data
  • Unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers
  • Security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information", past, present and future

Who's covered by HIPAA?

HIPAA applies to "covered entities", including:

  • Health plans
  • HMO's, health insurers, group health plans including employee welfare benefit plans
  • Health Care Clearinghouses
  • An entity that processes health information going from a health care provider to a payer
  • Certain Health Care Providers
  • Those who use computers to transmit health claims information

When must covered entities be in compliance with HIPAA requirements?

Most covered entities have until April 14, 2003 to comply with the HIPAA privacy standards. Entities with annual receipts of less than five million dollars will have an additional twelve months to comply. The remaining standards, including the draft "Health Information Security Standards", are yet to be published, but are expected to be issued in the near future. Once published, there will be approximately twenty-six months before they become effective.

 

 

What is Vox2Data Enterprise Edition?

Vox2Data Enterprise Edition document management system allows Medical Offices/Hospitals to generate records that are stored and distributed electronically.   Providers are able to create documentation quickly that are HCFA compliant and easily distributed to other providers for immediate review and better implementation of patient care. This is accomplished by utilization of a user interface that is intuitive, one that allows providers to dictate their reports - with voice recognition directly into their computer thereby eliminating costly transcription or time consuming hand written documentation. Patient demographics may be imported directly from practice management systems that allow documentation to be automatically populated with the required patient information. Templates and voice macros can be developed by each user to streamline dictation without having to change their practice. 

Vox2Data .Net Enterprise Edition has all the same features of our Medical Practice version, with the following additions:

  • The Remote Dictation feature allows users to access the server/office systems through the Internet. This allows them to be able to dictate from home, hospital, etc. Our medical vocabulary is the most extensive in the industry. Once the doctor has trained the voice recognition, they can achieve 96-99% accuracy in their dictation. Any new words, such as new procedures, pharmaceuticals, etc., can be added into the permanent vocabulary. The doctor can also incorporate macros for often used expressions, as well as add CPT/ICD-9 coding for each procedure. The ability to clone documents and take advantage of the referral letters can cut dictation time considerably.
  • The Prescription Writer/Integrator feature allows the doctor to dictate the prescription into a template that is valid for use by pharmacies and laboratories.   The prescription may be faxed to the lab or pharmacy or it may be printed out as hard copy to be given to the patient. The prescription is then a permanent part of the patient’s record.
  • Custom merge fields allow the facility to go beyond the set patient demographics and incorporate them as needed to specialize the needed data for each patient. The fields may be used for indications, allergies, medications, referring physicians, family history, etc. These merge fields then may be added into the templates as a part of the permanent file.
  • The ability to attach documents , MRIs, X-Rays, into the patient files, helps to keep records together and limit the need for thick, loose patient files.
  • Our software is totally medical legal and HIPAA compliant. It also conforms to ODBC and HL7 standards and it is compatible with most Windows based billing software.
  • The software also has a calendar and scheduler built in.

What would be the benefit of such a document management system?

It is important for providers and staff to have instant access to consistent, accurate and legal records. With an accuracy level of 96-99%, Vox2Data’s voice document management system allows practices to complete the transcription process immediately if desired. Records are then available throughout the network – permitting more frequent billing cycles and minimal rejections of claims from insurance companies and Medicare.  

Many of our clients have found that the ROI on our software is recovered in very short time. Many facilities that have transcribers, either on staff or subcontracted, find that the cost savings both in labor and turnaround on the documents far outweighs the initial price of the software.   

When must covered entities be in compliance with HIPAA requirements?

Most covered entities have until April 14, 2003 to comply with the HIPAA privacy standards. Entities with annual receipts of less than five million dollars will have an additional twelve months to comply. The remaining standards, including the draft "Health Information Security Standards", are yet to be published, but are expected to be issued in the near future. Once published, there will be approximately twenty-six months before they become effective.

Does it comply with all the new healthcare regulations, including HIPAA?

Vox2Data document management system is designed to conform to the HIPAA regulations as outlined in the US Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The act contains many elements dealing with a broad range of health related issues, including patient privacy and security standards. The standards and regulations pertaining to document management systems are specifically spelled out in the privacy regulations that were released to implement requirements of the administrative simplification section of HIPAA, requiring:
  * Standardization of electronic patient health, administrative and financial data.
  * Unique health identifiers for individuals, employers, health plans and health care providers.
  * Security standards protecting the confidentiality and integrity of "individually identifiable health information", past, present and future.

Are the records secure?

Vox2Data is a password protected software application that allows for various levels of security. All patient records that are “signed” become a legal, locked document that may be accessed across the network by qualified personnel. Documents may be printed, faxed or emailed depending on the facilities requirements.

What type of vocabulary is available? Is it adequate for the numerous specialties within our facility?

The Vox2Data document management system comes with either the ability to set up unique subspecialty-specific vocabularies or we can supply industry-standard language models that work effectively in multiple disciplines.

What types of templates are available?

Different templates are used for each specialty. Our templates can be used as-is, or modified to suit the user.Vox2Data utilizes custom “hot fields” to collect, retrieve, and import history, system review, test and measures, etc. from previously dictated charts.