Medical Billing Admin Security Measures

Medical billing portals house very sensitive data in most cases. To protect that information, organizations are required to comply with HIPAA rules for the overall operation of the business, including the security and privacy of the data within the medical billing portal. Therefore, it's really important that the administrative access to the application is heavily limited and controlled. The goal is to remain sharply focused on exactly what information the administrative team members need to know and access.

One of the challenges with HIPAA compliance in general is the fact there are multiple facets of HIPAA to consider. Both from a logging and notification perspective where all issues must be dealt with, as well as from a security angle. Information has to be encrypted and limited in terms of access and visibility, so the typical industry best practice calls for supremely siloed layers of how the data is accessed.

The application must be capable of getting through the multiple different layers of security and provide access to this sensitive information only when the user is completely validated. A major weakness within a medical billing portal, from a security perspective, would be associated with an administrative user who has broad or unrestricted access but not a secure password in place.

An easily guessed username and password would open up access to literally anyone. Even if everything was otherwise perfect and the most secure possible configuration of a medical billing portal was employed, individuals without the proper rights and authorization could potentially exploit the system. It's quite possible that someone with malicious intent would easily access the system inadvertently, if the login information is not properly secure.

One of the key requirements for making sure the sensitive information is kept private and not exploited is to require secure unique usernames that are long enough, therefore not easily guessable. The complementary step involves requiring secure passwords that are long and include unique characters. This strong combination would be hard to guess or break through a brute force attack.

Going Deeper on Safeguarding the System

It's also possible to become even more meticulous and augment security beyond the IP address to other factors. The system may utilize any of the following factors or a combination of:

• Browser type and version
• User information (login history and behavior)
• Device information
• Application versions
• Operating system type and version

A lot of that information is already available to the web application whenever a user makes a request. So, we can inform the application itself as to what the “signature” of the user is and then require any additional steps. Simultaneously, we need to make sure we're aware and intelligently seeing the signature of the user's device whenever they're trying to log in. The name of the game here is to make it convenient for the administrative users and not inhibit the functionality of the system by burdening them every time they log in.

The desired outcome involves a healthy balance where we force additional steps whenever the need arises. The device used for the first login is considered safe and any future devices will have to be verified. Apart from the device signature, the secure username and password of certain length and complexity are in place. Those two elements result in a secure combination access to the medical billing portal.

If -for whatever reason- the device signature or password changes, we're going to follow a more stringent process with the user. We want to make sure that we message the administrative users appropriately and they are aware of the rationale behind this procedure so that they’re not confused or overwhelmed. Ultimately, the users will be able to complete the steps while acknowledging the reason: it is because they’re on a different device, alternate IP address or some other variation in technology than what they regularly use.

In conclusion, the administrative users need to have very secure login credentials and a highly secure system that's brilliantly monitoring the signature of their device. The system could additionally establish multiple distinct barriers to general hacking attempts and safety precautions for the event of compromised data. So even if the administrator’s username and password were leaked, we need the system to be intelligent enough to prevent access without the matching device signature.

The above measures constitute the recommended way to handle the situation and secure administrative access to the system. We’re certainly very comfortable setting up the appropriate level of security for your medical billing portal. We also have a lot of experience going through the alternative options for each particular occasion. We’ll be glad to provide assistance, determine what solution would be best for your administrative users and optimize around your needs.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your upcoming medical billing portal project. Feel free to reach out via the quote request form if you have any other questions. You may also review the articles below and discover more on medical billing portals.

• 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