Medical Record Release
In 2003, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) went into effect with the purpose of regulating the privacy and security of personal health information. Since then, medical practices across the nation have been struggling to make sure that the systems they use for medical record release, storage and billing comply with HIPAA. AdvancedMD's #1 Web-based software for physician practice management is designed and maintained so that it is fully compliant with the requirements and standards enforced by HIPAA.
Part of the purpose of HIPAA was to regulate medical record release so that a patient's personal health information couldn't be given to just anybody who requests it. HIPAA's privacy regulations apply to all personal health information (PHI) whether it is in a paper record, verbally stated, or in an electronic medical record. HIPAA protects the confidentiality of the patient's individual medical information with respect to others.
AdvancedMD's Privacy Tools
In order to secure patients' privacy with medical record release, AdvancedMD has incorporated several key privacy tools into their EMR software. These tools include:
- User roles: The system restricts access to PHI based on administrative rights and user roles, so that the electronic information is revealed only to those whom you authorize.
- Consent: AdvancedMD provides a set of helpful patient consent management tools, including electronic form storage and automated reminders.
As a Business Associate of our clients, AdvancedMD is authorized access to and use of PHI without restrictions on medical record release. However, AdvancedMD pledges to use this information only as necessitated to deliver our contracted services to our provider clients. This includes secure storage of patient data, and access to that data as needed to perform support and consulting services requested by our clients. Our in-house support teams have strict guidelines and policies on confidentiality of and immediate destruction of PHI, once the specific support or consulting service is complete.
If you have more questions relating to medical record release, click here to read about the HIPAA compliance of AdvanecdMD's medical practice management system.
