It’s one thing to be HIPAA certified…

HIPAA plays a significant role in a medical patient’s safety and security. Knowing it, understanding it and knowing that your company is certified – doesn’t necessarily mean that the company you’re entrusting to deliver your medical packages is HIPAA compliant.

Becoming HIPAA certified essentially means that individuals are given the information they need in order to make their business HIPAA compliant. Nothing more, nothing less. It’s a difference – and an important one to remember and one that we’ll explain here, today.

What is HIPAA?

Just about everyone in the medical industry has some sort of idea for what HIPAA is all about. Its short-hand for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability act, which – when enacted in 1996 – mandated standards for health care information. Not only that it also helped to:

• Provide the ability for customers to carry their health overage during time of unemployment or job transition;
• Reduced abuse, corruption and fraud in the healthcare industry
• Set industry standards and benchmarks for billing and other accounting processes
• And perhaps most significant – mandated the protection and confidential handling of patient health records.

So what’s this mean if you want to hire a medical courier?

Medical couriers should always and are required to be held to the same expectations as anyone else working in a hospital or PCP’s office. Our couriers are trained and tested in nearly every area of HIPAA compliance including:

• Patient confidentiality
• Keeping information safe and secure
• Understanding the key components and principles under the HIPAA regulations
• And are also educated to what violations entail and what outcomes await them for violating the law.

Long story, short – our couriers are taught the terms of HIPAA and learn how they apply them to their own role in the healthcare industry.

Blood borne pathogens

Within the HIPAA certification curriculum exists an OSHA training on blood borne pathogens. This usually entails bodily fluids like blood – and educates the medical couriers on the risk of exposure to viruses, bacteria and other microorganisms every day. In this way and manner – our couriers are trained to be ready for the worst; knowing how to prepare in the event of a spill, break or any other unforeseen events that might befall the samples while in transport.

What it all means

While being certified is important – it’s just the first step. Even if a company has the knowledge they need, doesn’t mean they’ll take the necessary steps to enforce it. And that’s why it’s important to have a medical courier who’s not only trained, but knows what to do in the worst situations. To learn more about our medical courier services, contact us today. Good luck!