HIPAA Compliant Email for Healthcare Organizations |
Posted: March 7, 2023 |
Using email for healthcare communication requires a different set of safeguards and regulations than the use of email in other sectors. By ensuring you are HIPAA Compliant, you can minimize the risk of violations of HIPAA law and protect the privacy of your patients' protected health information. To comply with HIPAA, encrypt all emails that contain ePHI in transit and storage. This can be difficult because not all types of encryption offer the same degree of security. EncryptionEncryption is a security protocol that helps keep personal information private by enabling only authorized users to read it. It can help protect sensitive information such as credit card numbers and health data. It also protects organizations against cybercriminals, who have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to steal personal information for monetary gain. HIPAA requires all Covered Entities to implement data security practices that meet high standards and comply with regulations. In addition, HIPAA compliance helps organizations position themselves for future tightening of privacy and security laws, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or California’s Consumer Privacy Act. Email is a common method of communicating protected health information (PHI) and other confidential data, but it can be susceptible to attacks. Bad actors can intercept unencrypted email and steal valuable information in ways that are hard to detect. This type of email infringement can be particularly devastating to medical and healthcare institutions, as it poses a risk to patients’ privacy. While encryption is not a requirement under the HIPAA Security Rule, it remains a critical safeguard that can help ensure that only the intended recipient can see PHI sent via email. This is why organizations that are governed by the rules should prioritize end-to-end encryption for all communications. This can help organizations prevent ePHI from being exposed and provides peace of mind to both patients and staff. Additionally, it can reduce the number of phishing scams that may occur due to a lack of password-protected attachments or other security measures. However, encryption can be expensive and time-consuming to set up, so organizations should consider other options for ensuring that their email is secure. In addition to implementing encryption solutions, organizations should also regularly test and document their security procedures to ensure that they are HIPAA compliant. Fortunately, there are many solutions that offer HIPAA compliant email encryption. Some services even provide email encryption as a service, with the added benefit of allowing users to access the encrypted emails in a secure portal. Some of these services offer free encrypted email accounts for small businesses and organizations. Others charge a monthly fee, which can be less than you may expect. For example, ProtonMail offers a single user account for $15/month and will give you a free trial if you are not sure whether or not it’s the right fit for your organization. Business Associate AgreementsEssentially, business associates are third parties who provide services or functions to a covered entity. These include insurance companies, healthcare clearinghouses, and researchers who transmit PHI as part of their work. The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) defines a business associate as anyone who provides a service that requires them to access, use, or disclose protected health information. They can be individuals or companies that work with a covered entity on a contract basis or as a subcontractor. When a business associate breaches their agreement or causes a term violation, they may be held liable. This is why it's important to review business associate agreements regularly, even if they're in effect indefinitely. It's also a good idea to check whether your contract requires a business associate to report any breached information to you within 60 days of learning about it. If so, this is a good way to ensure you're on the right side of HIPAA compliance. A good business associate agreement should include language requiring your BA to implement appropriate technical, physical and administrative safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI. This includes making sure they're encrypting all sensitive data and protecting against cyberattacks. In addition to requiring the BA to comply with HIPAA, this type of contract should also require them to notify you if they discover any vulnerabilities in their services that could impact your patients' privacy. This can help you avoid fines and legal issues down the road. This is especially important when working with contractors who will come in contact with your patients' PHI. If they're not willing to commit to HIPAA-compliant practices, it's best to steer clear of them. While business associate agreements aren't a complete solution to HIPAA compliance, they're the first step in creating an effective partnership between a covered entity and a business associate. If you're looking to create an effective and comprehensive BAA, Ironclad offers an array of tools to streamline the process and ensure HIPAA compliance at every step. DisclaimersIf you’re in the healthcare industry, it’s critical to keep your patient’s medical information protected. This means you need to be HIPAA compliant. One way to do this is to add a HIPAA email disclaimer to your emails. These are a type of warranty that warns recipients that the content of an email may not be completely secure and could end up being recirculated. They can be written in a variety of ways, and can vary in tone from a friendly reminder to a legal mandated disclosure. Whatever the purpose, email disclaimers are a necessity for any business that wishes to adhere to HIPAA regulations and ensure the safety of patient medical information. A HIPAA fax disclaimer is another way to secure the contents of an email or fax, and is important for medical practitioners who need to send confidential patient information over a fax machine. It also ensures that the recipient of the fax is aware of what information is included in the message and understands that it must be treated as PHI. When a HIPAA fax disclaimer is used, it is vital to include contact information in case the fax is accidentally sent to the wrong person or company. This can help the recipient contact the correct entity and take the necessary measures to remove the fax from their inbox or trash it. As a result of the GDPR laws, you need to be extra careful when sending emails from your business to clients and patients who reside in the EU. If you don’t include a disclaimer, you run the risk of breaking data protection laws in the EU. The bottom line is that HIPAA email compliance saves you from both civil and criminal charges and fines for breaches, so it’s critical to stay on top of the latest rules. The best way to do this is by adding a company-wide HIPAA email disclaimer. While it may seem like a hassle, the added security that comes from a company-wide HIPAA email is well worth the effort. It can also make your staff and patients more aware of the HIPAA regulations that they have to abide by. TrainingHIPAA compliant email is more important than ever for healthcare organizations as data breaches continue to rise and penalties increase. A HIPAA violation can lead to severe fines, which can cost you and your employees time and money. The first step in ensuring your emails are HIPAA-compliant is to ensure that everyone working for you understands their responsibilities under the law. You must specify who needs PHI access to send emails to patients, and you must train all of your staff on how to use email in a HIPAA compliant manner. You must also use email in a secure way and ensure that it's encrypted when sending it to clients and other healthcare providers. This is especially important if you're sending sensitive information about an individual's health or treatments history. It's also essential that you choose a service that meets all of your HIPAA compliance requirements. Look for a service that offers encryption and private message centers, as well as a signed business associate agreement (BAA). Another key aspect of HIPAA compliant email is employee training. Often, employees accidentally send emails that contain PHI to people who shouldn't have it. This can cause them to violate the HIPAA privacy rule, which states that employees must only work with the minimum amount of PHI necessary for a particular task. If your staff members are using their own devices to send emails, they should be required to lock the device and prevent it from being accessed by anyone else. They should also be trained on how to use the service in a HIPAA-compliant way and avoid making mistakes that could result in a HIPAA violation. Once your email service is up and running, you'll want to ensure that it is regularly audited to ensure that it is adhering to your HIPAA policies for email. This can be done by a third-party firm that will conduct a security audit for you and then offer recommendations on how to improve your email services. Once you've found an email service that meets your HIPAA compliance requirements, you can start sending secure emails to your clients and other healthcare professionals. You can find services like Hushmail for Healthcare, GSuite, and Virtru that can provide you with secure email at a variety of price points.
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