Sensitive Information Access Levels

Developing Levels of Access for Sensitive Information

Medical billing portals usually store PHI (Protected Health Information), along with other sensitive personal data that is relevant to a patient and their caregiver. Therefore, medical billing portals have to comply with HIPAA requirements for privacy and security. The rules of HIPAA generally apply to the overall operations of the system. One of the key requirements a site and organization have to satisfy when leveraging HIPAA-compliant medical billing software is the concept of access restrictions within the HIPAA security rules.

HIPAA is broken into different rules, guidelines and requirements that organizations must adhere to. The one that applies heavily to web applications is referred to as the HIPAA security rule. Within this lies a requirement that user access to sets of data -specifically PHI- is limited and role-based restrictions are in place. Those access rights can immediately be revoked if the need arises. For example, if an administrative or service-related role within the organization is terminated, then they are no longer able to access PHI.

In addition to that, it's also critical for customer data to be removable upon the user’s request. A niche configuration needs to ensure the effective removal of all personal PHI that is stored in the system. From a secure and sensitive data perspective, user information can no longer exist in the system upon their request.

There are different ways to achieve the above requirements, but the general concept revolves around various roles who are handled through a role-based security system. Users are given specific rights within the application based on their respective roles. For example, an administrative user would have certain rights and system access tied to their role. That set of rights may differ among other positions in the organization, like a customer service representative, who could be assigned another role.

Authentication Considerations for Medical Billing Portals

Depending on the conditions, it might be a suitable idea to implement multi-factor authentication. A common way is through email verification where a token is generated whenever someone attempts to log in. The recipient will then verify that token value from the link in their email. Another frequently used way is to send the token via a text message.

There are certainly other formats of multi-factor authentication, but email and text are the most prevalent. It's also possible to set up single sign-on to tools, like Okta, or other forms of user authentication. However, the internal users would typically require more robust login and authentication methods due to their role.

That practice would allow the system administrators to know when somebody is logging in as an elevated role with high access to PHI data. As overall administrators, they have the ability to remove access from other users immediately and even eliminate roles.

This is imperative for HIPAA compliance, as one of the big components of the security rule is that information needs to be limited and restricted on a need to know basis. We want to make sure that users are able to view content which is physically reduced to what is absolutely required for their role.

Within the medical billing portal, it’s also possible to set up separate:

• Segments of users
• Sets of accounts
• Groups of regions
• Distributions of users to customer service reps
• Structures to manage those groups of users and granting access

• Medical Billing Portal Overview
• Medical Billing HIPAA Compliance & Regulations
• Meet PHI Data Regulations with Data Tokenization
• HIPAA-Compliant Billing Software
• Portal Security and Penetration Testing Best Practices
• HIPAA-Compliant Database Software
• Sensitive Information Access Levels & Protection
• Administrative Security Measures Best Practices
• HIPAA-Compliant Web Hosting
• EMR Integration Solutions
• Secure Email Communication and Data Privacy
• Including Patient Insurance Providers and Physicians
• Integration Options for Medical Billing Portals