Is Fax by Email HIPAA Compliant?
Apr 29, 2022 01:30 PM EDT
Companies and organizations are required by federal laws and HIPAA regulations to follow certain protocols when sending or receiving medical records. HIPAA regulations show all authorized parties how to send and receive medical data safely. Organizations and business owners have access to their own domains with email services, and the network administrators must manage these connections each day to prevent security risks and breaches. While businesses can use email services to send and receive faxes, specific standards and security schemes must apply to prevent unauthorized access to any medical records and data.
Setting Up an Account
Businesses set up an account with the service provider and receive login credentials, and the owner and their workers get individual user accounts. The user accounts give the workers access to the faxing services. Once the owner chooses an online faxing package, the service provider coordinates the faxing services according to the customer's selections, and the service provider works with the network administrator to connect the services to other applications. Companies can learn how to fax by way of email through a service provider.
Connecting to the Email Account
The workers' email accounts connect to the company domain and network, and all email accounts are set up according to permissions, authorizations, and security clearances. The administrator can apply the faxing services to email accounts authorized to use the services. Email accounts that are not connected through the company's domain are not authorized for company use, and the network administrator monitors the email accounts and IT standards.
Using HIPAA Cover Letters
At any time a business or medical facility faxes any confidential medical files, the user must apply a HIPAA compliant cover sheet, and the cover sheet informs the recipient that medical data is included. These HIPAA cover sheets have a preauthorized warning and prevent unauthorized viewers from seeing the data. HIPAA requires these warnings to prevent other parties from reviewing the medical data, and the appropriate recipient is the only person that sees the medical records.
Setting Up Connections for Workers
All workers who are authorized to send and receive faxes through the business services receive user accounts specifically for the faxing services, and the workers must sign into the system to access the documents. Online faxing services offer cloud-based storage for faxes and connected documents. All connections must be secured and authorized to review the stored documents and information pertaining to each fax that was sent or received by the company and its workers.
Applying Robust Security Schemes
All online faxing options, email, and the network must have appropriate security schemes to protect the data, and the systems and services must comply with all IT standards and federal regulations. The network administrator must monitor the security of all systems. Business owners cannot send any confidential information via fax without adequate security. The security schemes apply high-grade encryption and secured socket layers to prevent any other parties from seeing the data or accessing the information at the point of transmission.
Company domain services provide all workers with an individual email account through the domain, and the workers must sign into the network to use these accounts. Online faxing services connect directly to the email accounts and make faxing more convenient. HIPAA requires specific protocols and cover letters for all medical files sent or received by any organization, and these measures prevent data theft. Remaining compliant with HIPAA allows companies to use convenient connections to send and receive faxes.
