What is HIPAA Compliant Secure Email?
Are you looking for the HIPAA compliance checklist pdf? If yes then this article will provide you a great information about HIPAA compliance so continue reading it.
Email and other forms of electronic communication are permitted by HIPAA, but there are rules to follow. Email may get you into a lot of trouble if you’re not careful about how you use it. You must safeguard the PHI (Protected Health Information) of your patients and ensure that their personal information is kept private.
Email is a very valuable and important business tool, thus healthcare providers cannot just ignore it. Let’s discuss what a HIPAA-compliant email looks like and how to send one to get your team ready to utilise email efficiently.
What is HIPAA compliant email?
Regardless of how you utilise email inside your company, there are different regulations that must be followed to remain in compliance with HIPAA. Ensure that emails are HIPAA compliant by:-
Send email using end-to-end encryption whenever possible.
With your provider, sign a business associate agreement.
Make sure your email platform is set up properly.
Before emailing patients, get their permission.
Keep emails on file forever.
You may distribute email securely and in compliance with HIPAA by following these steps. Additionally, you may stop your staff from unintentionally violating HIPAA requirements by establishing procedures that ensure adherence to privacy laws and instructing them on email usage best practises.
The first step in sending emails that respect patient privacy is to have a basic understanding of how HIPAA-compliant email functions. We’ll talk about sending those emails after that.
How to send HIPAA-compliant email?
It’s not as easy as entering into any platform and sending a fast email to send HIPAA-compliant email. According to HHS, a covered entity must “ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all e-PHI they create, receive, maintain, or transmit” in order to comply with the security rule.
How Do You Find an NPI?
The National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) assigns NPIs, maintains and updates information about health care providers with NPIs, and disseminates the NPI Registry and NPPES Downloadable File.
This includes developing technical policies and processes that restrict access to electronic protected health information to authorised individuals. Therefore, even if the email is going to another doctor, it must be encrypted before it leaves your office.
There are a few ways to send an email once you’ve checked that it complies with the criteria outlined in the preceding section. Utilizing an encrypted email provider or secure communication portal is the safest method. This guarantees security for the client device as well as on both ends.
Since both services will provide encrypted emails and enter into a BAA agreement, it is possible to comply with HIPAA requirements by using an email service like Outlook (only available in the Enterprise version) or Gmail (available only to G Suite customers). But keep in mind that these platforms need extra configuration.
ProtonMail, which provides a BAA agreement for users of Proton for Business services, is another another cost-effective choice. ProtonMail deletes all data at the conclusion of a contract, and HIPAA regulations call for providers to grant patients access to their data, thus users will need a data retention strategy.