Call Accounting Can Protect and Increase Efficiency for Healthcare Organizations
April 22, 2014
By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are in a state of flux today. With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, many of them are seeing an influx of new patients. Changes to insurance rules and regulations are creating some challenges as well as opportunities, and all these changes are affected the way they account for their services and resources. On a daily basis, they deal with an ever more demanding public that expects more of them.
Healthcare facilities, like financial services companies, are required by law to record phone-based transactions. This is thanks to the HIPAA federal legislation that governs medical privacy and accountability. But while most healthcare organizations use call recording, the solutions they use are often more of a burden than an asset.
According to a recent blog post by ISI (News - Alert) Telemanagement’s Justin DiSandro, recording calls for archiving purposes has ongoing benefits. They are accessible at a future date, and are kept secure through restricted access. (This is mandatory thanks to HIPAA legislation, since recorded calls pertaining to medical issues often contain sensitive personal information.) According to DiSandro, one of the benefits of call recording for health care purposes includes protection from litigation.
“In case of more extreme events, such as threats against individuals or facilities, having a recording of the call can help not only in subsequent investigations, but also in real-time communication with the appropriate authorities,” wrote DiSandro. “Each interaction is properly monitored and handled accordingly. Nevertheless, safety extends beyond just that. All calls are also recorded and archived for legal reasons. This includes having a record to avoid potential litigation, as well as ensuring regulatory compliance.”
Call Accounting
But the benefits go beyond even regulation and protection from lawsuits. Companies can use them to evaluate employees who are largely phone-based. They can analyze the calls to find best practices and weak spots in operations and improve business methods.
Many companies choose to record calls and integrate the function closely with their call accounting feature. Many call accounting solutions providers, and ISI Telemanagement Solutions (News - Alert) is one, offer software designed to help healthcare organizations be more productive and stay in control of their landline and wireless spending while at the same time recording calls to ensure that phone resources are being used efficiently and with no waste. By implementing call accounting and recording tools that are focused on landline and wireless phone optimization, these organizations can cut costs and streamline their telecommunications needs by boosting efficiency and cutting out misuse of telecom resources, while at the same time protecting their organization legally.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi