Are you in the healthcare industry and feel overwhelmed with administrative tasks? Virtual Medical Assistants are an invaluable tool to help healthcare professionals free up their time so they can focus on patient care.
Virtual medical assistants, also known as virtual scribes or virtual nurses, are increasingly being utilized by physicians to improve efficiency and patient care.
Virtual medical assistants are well-trained virtual professionals that provide administrative and clerical support to doctors and other healthcare providers. They can help grow your practice by taking over tasks such as scheduling, transcribing notes, filing paperwork, and more.
Using a virtual assistant in healthcare provides many benefits for both patients and providers.
Virtual assistants can save time by allowing them to access health advice and services workflow quickly, easily, and securely. They also provide personalized care options, as the technology is able to take into account a patient's medical history and other factors when providing advice and billing. Virtual assistants can provide remote access to medical consultations and treatments EMR, and bookkeeping, eliminating the need for costly doctor's appointments. They can also provide verification, certification and admin services to streamline the entire healthcare process from start to finish.
Virtual assistants can help reduce the administrative burden on healthcare providers by allowing them to focus more time on providing direct care rather than paperwork. Virtual assistants also provide a more secure platform for storing patient data since it is all stored digitally with stringent security measures in place. Overall, virtual assistants can provide tremendous benefits to healthcare facilities, as they allow for faster access to services and treatments, personalized advice and care options, reduction of administrative burden on providers, and improved security.
Although virtual assistants can provide a more secure platform for storing patient data, there is still the potential for HIPAA violations if proper security measures are not followed. It is important that any medical information transmitted via voice or text be protected with encryption, and that access to sensitive data be restricted to authorized personnel only.
Inaccurate data can have serious implications for patient care, so it is important to ensure that virtual assistants are providing accurate information. Health providers should regularly audit their systems and verify the accuracy of any medical advice provided by the assistant.
Although virtual assistants may offer improved privacy compared to traditional methods, such as texting or in-person conversations, it is still important for healthcare providers to take steps to ensure that patient data remains secure. This includes using two-factor authentication, limiting access to specific individuals, and regularly auditing security protocols.
With any medical advice given by a virtual assistant, there is the potential for liability if the information is incorrect or fails to provide the desired results. Healthcare providers should include language in any agreements with virtual assistant companies that specify the provider’s liability if something goes wrong.
Virtual assistants must comply with HIPAA and other related regulations, such as privacy laws, data security rules, and patient confidentiality requirements. Healthcare providers should be sure that any virtual assistant they use is up to date on all regulations and has taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance.
When selecting a virtual assistant for your healthcare practice, it is important to consider their experience and qualifications.
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In order to give you more information about VirtualRNS and its offerings, we have put together some frequently asked questions.
VirtualRNs can do anything from Support, Scheduling, or even Scribing! Our VRNs work with all types of medical specialties and EMRs. From private practice solo practitioners to larger medical groups we can assist no matter the size, or volume requirements. Our virtual registered nurses are highly trained and can adapt to your specific workflows.
Our VRNs can help with live charting, transcription, back-office tasks, phone calls, and more. Anything you can do on a computer, you can likely have one of our VRNs do the job. They can do referrals, refill requests, faxing, phone calls, insurance verifications, prior authorizations, eligibility, and much more.
VirtualRNs offers straightforward pricing starting at just $11/hour for a Full-Time VRN (over 30 hours/week) to $12/hour for a Part-Time VRN. (between 15-30 hours per week). All of our VirtualRN Assistance have been thoroughly trained in HIPAA policies as well as in general scribing techniques. Using VirtualRNs saves your office time, money, and frustration.
As with any practice, it is a physician’s responsibility to ensure HIPAA-compliant procedures are in place when working with contractors/employees. All of our virtual registered nurses hold certificates in HIPAA training and are bound by the Data Privacy Act of 2012 in the Philippines. We also require that each of our virtual registered nurses obtain an NBI clearance, the Philippine equivalent to an FBI background check. Our clients have the individual VRNs sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with them. Our corporation does not have access to any client’s PHI, therefore no need for us to sign a BAA. There are two ways to grant your virtual assistant access to your EMR, direct username + password or limited access to the system. Alternatively, you can have a computer in your office with your EMR along with remote desktop software that your virtual assistant will have access to. Should an intentional breach of protected health information occur overseas, you are protected by the Philippines Data Privacy Act of 2012. This act holds Philippine citizens accountable for their actions and provides coverage to those affected within the United States.
There are various ways to work with our virtual registered nurses. Dependent upon the tasks you assign will likely depend on the solutions you’ll need to ensure you VirtualRN is familiar with.
We recommend the following software for their efficiency and security. However, our VRNs can undoubtedly use whatever software you are currently using in your office:
The Philippine government has recently passed legislation that prosecutes individuals who compromise sensitive information, such as PHI. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 is similar to HIPAA here in the United States. Philippine citizens can be held accountable for their actions, even if they are working with an entity outside of the country. All of our VRNs are based in the Philippines, where the government is keen to foster relationships abroad. The Philippines has enacted the Data Privacy Act of 2012, just like HIPAA here in the US. This act ensures that their law protects all sensitive data, and the ramifications of breaching these are severe. All of our VRNs available have been individually vetted, background checked, and hold HIPAA certificates of training to further underline their understanding of data security. If they are a registered nurse or have other professional licenses, we have copies of these and photo ID, address, etc. We also recommend that you have the virtual registered nurse sign a Business Associate Agreement just as you would any other contractor that may have access to PHI (protected health information). You would treat them like any other user of your system with regular HIPAA security audit protocols.
100 E Pine Street, Suite B101, Orlando, FL 32801
info@virtualrns.com
(888) 394-7815