Provided by:  Jennifer Kirschenbaum, Esq.

March 3, 2021

Question:

Hi Jennifer, 


I have a question about using offshores virtual medical staffing and physician call center services.  I do receive a lot of adv about those kind of services which by definition they ask me about access to my emr as well as my phone and faxes...some of them offer billing services as well....what is your input and how can i get protected...ie do you really recommend such a service?

Thank you, Dr. H

 

Answer:


When the vendor is not in the US to recover from, it is true you will have less ability to collect should the vendor create or invite liability, so, yes, less protected.  There is also the matter of compliance - confirming if you hire a vendor the services being rendered are being rendered by a properly licensed person.  For instance, some practitioners outsource professional reads for imaging...is the person doing the read properly licensed in the appropriate state?  Liability protection and compliance are issues we would tackle in the contracting process, whether the vendor is in state or outside.  If the vendor is not local, or even if vendor is international. The vendor may have adequate insurance coverage state-side to mitigate major concerns of exposure.  

In the fact pattern presented - outsourcing admin staffing - the two most critical pieces to finalize an arrangement after conducting your due diligence are finalizing the following  - 
  1. a proper services agreement detailing the services to be rendered
  2. a business associate agreement covering HIPAA access

which, we can help with.