Page 19 - Part 2 Navigating Electronic Media in a Healthcare Setting

SVMIC Navigating Electronic Media in a Healthcare Setting

should always be used to flag a patient’s medical record in order
to draw attention to needed follow-up in the event a different

provider sees the patient at the time of the next visit.

Dictation and Voice Recognition Software

Practices need an efficient, flexible and accurate method for their

authorized users to produce the necessary documentation to

complete a patient note or encounter within the confines of an
EHR. Healthcare professionals often have to extend their concern

for PHI privacy and security to the digital realm. Any outside entity
working with a provider to develop a program for authorized users

to implement a dictation and/or voice recognition must support a
workflow that enables the practitioner to build a data stream that

can be secured from end to end.

HIPAA requires that covered entities and their business associates
handle PHI properly. Even if an application helps them do this, it is

not a substitute for or a solution to the question of compliance.
Consider the possible risks and pitfalls involved in the purchase of

a digital voice recorder.

The vast majority of available digital recording devices, as well as
apps, are built for recording classroom lectures and concerts, not

for securely handling patient records. Like your EHR running on
the computer in your office, according to HIPAA, it is not sufficient

to count on your computer login to secure patient data; you have

to log in to the EHR or digital recording app separately.

It is strongly recommended that all patients’ records on a

recording device (dictation, photos, media or reports) be
encrypted. Where this implementation is a reasonable and

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