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Is FAXing really HIPAA Compliant?

Tuesday, September 12th, 2017

Many organizations, especially in the healthcare industry, have an urgent need to send important and sensitive information, like protected health information (what constitutes PHI?), to organizations via FAX (facsimile).

Why?  Because this is how it has always been done, and everyone is “set up” to be able to handle FAXes quickly and efficiently.

Go back in time 10-15 years.  Every doctor’s office and small business had one or more FAX machines for sending documents and pictures back and forth.  It was essential technology that became ingrained into business processes through constant, repetitive use.  Everyone knows how to use a FAX machine, even the most technologically challenged staff member.

Fast forward to now:

  1. Fax Machines have changed.  They are now all-in-one devices that scan, print, copy, send files to your computer, and more.  The “FAX” ability is now just a minor extra feature.
  2. HIPAA has arrived and evolved.  It used to be that sending patient (ePHI) data via FAX was the norm.  Now, it is perilous to send such private data over regular FAX lines, as it is easy for that process to break down and violate HIPAA.  E.g. see this $2.5 million dollar law suite resulting from 1 fax message.
  3. Everyone has a computer or tablet. Most doctors and staff members have access to email, a HIPAA-secured computer or tablet, and familiarity with how to use them … and have been trained on best practices via the required HIPAA security training that everyone has to have now-a-days.
  4. Paperless offices. Workplaces have or are evolving to become paperless — everything is stored electronically.  Regular FAXes are often disdained in favor or email; when regular FAXes do arrive, they are often scanned to electronic files and then destroyed.
  5. Low resolution. Faxes are low-resolution.  They are slow and they do not contain a great amount of detail.  They are not great for sending anything graphical.

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Tags: document, facsimile, fax, hipaa, hipaa compliant, hipaa fax, hipaa security, phi, phone, protected health information, Safeguards Principle, secure, secure fax
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA, Popular Posts
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Opt-In Email Encryption is Too Risky for HIPAA Compliance

Tuesday, July 11th, 2017

A majority of companies that offer email encryption for HIPAA compliance allow senders to “opt-in” to encryption on a message-by-message basis. If the sender “does nothing special” then the email will be sent in the normal/insecure manner of email. If the sender explicitly checks a box or types a keyword in the body or subject of the message, then it will be encrypted and HIPAA-compliant.

Opt-in encryption is desirable because it is “easy.” End users don’t want any extra work and don’t want encryption requirements to slow them down, especially if many of their messages do not contain PHI. It is “good for usability” and thus easy to sell.

Cybersecurity opt-in email encryption

However, opt-in encryption is a very bad idea with the inception of the HIPAA Omnibus rule. Opt-in encryption imposes a large amount of risk on an organization, which grows exponentially with the size of the organization. Organizations are responsible for the mistakes and lapses of their employees. Accidentally sending unencrypted emails with PHI is an automatic breach with serious penalties.

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Tags: email, encrypted email, hipaa, hipaa compliance, omnibus, omnibus rule, opt in, opt out, phi, reportable, secureline, unencrypted, usability
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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How Is HIPAA-Compliant Email Different from Secure Email?

Wednesday, June 21st, 2017

Protected health information (PHI) is heavily regulated under HIPAA, but the exact details can be confusing. The regulations are designed to keep everyone’s private information safe, but they also put a significant amount of responsibility on businesses.

HIPAA regulations apply to just about every aspect of a person’s medical information, including their transit, storage and security. Because email is such an important and extensively-used form of communication, HIPAA regulations apply to it as well.

HIPAA-compliant email vs secure email

Some may think that secure and encrypted email is all you need to keep PHI safe and emails compliant. The reality is that HIPAA email regulations go above and beyond standard secure email. To protect your business, you need to make sure that your email provider is HIPAA-compliant, not just secure.

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Tags: baa, hipaa, hipaa-compliant email, phi, secure email
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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Is sharing my patient list with a marketing company OK under HIPAA?

Saturday, February 11th, 2017

We received this questions via Ask Erik from the head of a Dental Practice (who wished to remain anonymous):

“I want to create a Refer-a-Friend program, for a dental practice, that will be managed by a third party marketing agency.  The third party needs only my patient names and address to do an on-going e-mail campaign, no PHI will be given to the third party — just name and e-mail address.

Because I am ‘Marketing” to my own list, and I am NOT marketing any third party products, and I am not receiving any third party payment for anything:

* Am I in any HIPAA danger? (No PHI is ever exchanged, and I am NOT marketing anyone else’s product.)

* Because my PHI is de-identified from the associated names and e-mail addresses, is it OK for me to hand over my patient mail list to my marketing agency (being very careful of course to include NO PHI)?

* Does HIPAA specifically prevent me from marketing my own products to my patient list? I know that marketing other people’s products to my list will require prior consent. But, marketing my own Refer-a-Friend program… how is that a violation?

NOTE: PHI is defined as: “(A) is created or received by a health care provider, health plan, public health authority, employer, life insurer, school or university, or health care clearinghouse; and (B) relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of any individual, the provision of health care to an individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual.”

So, is a mail list of my patients’ names and e-mail addresses considered to be PHI (if it contains no associated PHI as defined above)? The definition above would say NO. The definition above states that it is ONLY the health information about a patient — NOT the patient’s name and e-mail addresses themselves.

Also, on the mail list for the Refer-a-Friend marketing program, there will be names other than patients, probably about 5% are not patients. Does this influence the phi/non-phi question?

This is a very important distinction. Having clarity on this question could free up a lot of us to proceed with e-mail marketing.

If a mailing list, for a dentist, that contains 95% patients and 5% non-patients, and NO health information (just names and addresses)… is it considered PHI?”

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Tags: hipaa, marketing, phi
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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How the HIPAA Omnibus Rule Affects Email, Web, FAX, and Skype

Monday, May 6th, 2013

We have written extensively in the past about the impact of HIPAA regulations on email services, web hosting, faxing, and Skype use.  The recent HIPAA changes reflected in the Omnibus rule have a significant impact on the use of these types of services.  Here, we examine the new and important considerations based upon the HIPAA Omnibus Rule.

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Tags: email, fax, hipaa, omnibus, phi, skype, web
Posted in LuxSci Library: HIPAA
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