The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), provides standards for protecting patient medical information. In conjunction with HIPAA, Medicare and Medicaid have requirements for prescriptions. Both regulations cover not only paper documents and digital records but also printed records. Every prescription printed is subject to Medicare and HIPAA regulations.
Accounting for the security of patient health information received and printed for a prescription must be included in your compliance plan. You need to ensure that prescriptions can’t be copied and used to steal medicine. Utilizing prescription printing software and tamper-resistant printing technology from Lexmark healthcare can help.
In this article, we’ll go over how the technology solution works and how the right printer can help protect patient information and secure prescriptions. With a few simple steps, you can reduce your risk of a costly fine and criminal action.
Compliance Requirement for Prescription Printing
Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require that all written prescriptions received by a beneficiary have prescription paper requirements – including at least one tamper-resistant feature – in order to prevent the copying, erasure, and counterfeiting of a prescription.
Meeting these regulations can be difficult. Each state offers slightly different characteristics of what constitutes tamper-resistant, but CMS does provide general guidelines:
- An ink pen on paper does not meet the requirements of the guidelines. Ink can be both erased and modified.
- Computer-generated prescriptions or prescriptions written on a computer using prescription printing software can fulfill the requirements.
- The prescription printing software and printer should have at least one copy or tamper-resistant feature. Standard paper can be used if the printer meets prescription printing requirements.
Prescribing physicians and medical facilities can use electronic medical records (EMR) and ePrescribing to create a prescription for a patient, but they must fulfill the obligations of HIPAA.
How Lexmark Healthcare Can Help
There are many regulations and challenges to writing prescriptions and protecting patient health information. An integrated solution like managed IT services, prescription printing software, and printers through Lexmark healthcare can help.
Lexmark Healthcare Printers
Lexmark offers printers designed for the healthcare industry. The tamper-resistant prescription printer has built-in features that are compliant with CMS regulations. The prescription printing software installed on the Lexmark healthcare printers cuts down on the time required to generate a new prescription. This saves healthcare physicians time and effort so they can instead focus on patient care.
The printers have multiple tamper-resistant features. You can select and design your printer solution, ensuring it meets your needs. These features include:
- Anti-erasure background: When text is erased, the background of the prescription is also erased. This helps prevent modification of the prescription.
- Microprint: A line of text, almost invisible to the naked eye, is printed on the edge of the page. If the prescription is copied, this text becomes unreadable.
- Anti-lift-off text: Text cannot be removed from the prescription. This prevents altering the prescription.
- Pantograph: “Void” text is added to the background of the prescription. If the document is photocopied, the void text will appear on the copy.
- Security warning: A box is added to the prescription listing the tamper-resistant features.
Maintenance and set-up of the Lexmark healthcare printers are easy. Once the system is in place, you are protected with multiple tamper-resistant features and prescription paper requirements. There’s no need to add processes and complexity to patient care, as the printers automate compliance.
Prescription Printing Software
In addition to prescription printing hardware, Lexmark provides prescription printing software. The app lets physicians print and scan medical documents and prescriptions from a mobile device.
The app provides the added security and privacy necessary for patient information. The healthcare provider ensures compliance with HIPAA and CMS using the app. It also provides a nice stepping stone for the facility to transition into paperless operations.
Getting Started with Lexmark Healthcare
Doctors and other healthcare providers already have a difficult job and focusing on patients must be the priority. Managing regulations and compliance are difficult, and this is where a managed services provider can help.
Managed services providers like Blue Technologies have experience working in the healthcare industry. They understand how to deliver and maintain an IT infrastructure that is not only HIPAA compliant, but also enables your team to focus on patients.
They can evaluate your current operations and develop a custom solution using healthcare-focused tools like prescription printing software and printers through Lexmark healthcare. The solution can target operational bottlenecks, costly waste, and security threats that can put your business at risk, thereby reducing costs and adding efficiencies.
Contact a Blue Technologies expert today for a free assessment. Discover how technology can improve your patient care today.