In the healthcare industry, there were no generally accepted security standards or general requirements for protecting health information before HIPAA. Meanwhile, new technologies were emerging, and the healthcare industry began to move away from paper processes by relying more heavily on electronic information systems for various administrative and clinical functions, such as paying claims, answering eligibility questions, providing health information, etc.
What is HIPPA?
Hippa is an abbreviation for “Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act,” a 1996 Federal law restricting access to individuals’ private medical information. You might be sharing patient information without realizing it, even when you and your team do all you can to protect patient information. Faxing is notorious for breaching HIPAA compliance regulations. HIPAA regulations are very confusing, and the last thing you need is to be in violation because of simple mistakes that are easily preventable with cloud fax services. Having the right fax services will make you safer when you move to faxing online instead of directly to your office. For best practices, follow this hipaa faxing guide.
HIPAA Compliant Fax Tips
- It is imperative that faxes never be left unattended. This may seem obvious, but it is also the most common way HIPAA data is compromised. Ensure that you remain at the fax machine until the transmission is complete. But, who has time to wait? You can spend more time on what matters when you switch to a cloud-based fax service.
- Always use cover pages. No matter how HIPAA-compliant your office is, it is still important to use a cover page since you never know what will happen on the other end. It is also a HIPAA requirement.
- Keep an audit trail. When it comes to HIPAA compliance, an audit trail ensures that every interaction between you and the patient is carefully documented. This might be easy to accomplish in treatment rooms or the front office, but faxes are notorious for going unchecked. You can be fined for non-compliance if you are not recording every fax.
Why Use Online Faxing?
By using online faxing, you can save money, time, and resources behind the process. Online faxing also offers greater accessibility than the old fax machine and its methods. You can easily send a fax to clients without waiting for a fax machine. Powered by online technology, it can also be operated from a mobile app or a desktop computer in the office.
More Fax Options
- With online fax service, users are assigned a business phone number that can simultaneously fax, call, and voicemail.
- A password-protected account stores faxes, which prevents fax machines from printing out documents that could live in fax trays for some time. During that time, faxes are able to be seen easily by those with negative intentions.
Keep a History
- The sender can no longer argue that you didn’t receive faxes when you’ve received them already. No more wondering if you faxed something or not.
- The fax logs can also be accessed to get an overview of your faxing history, like how frequently you send and receive faxes, and who are the most frequent users.
Advanced Functions
- You can schedule faxes in advance. Sending a fax on a certain date and time in the future is as easy as going to your online account and following the normal faxing instructions.
- To separate spam faxes from legitimate transmissions, you can also block faxes from senders without caller IDs.
Send Protected Files
- The faxing system continues to improve and the mode of transmission via phone lines put up a higher wall against cybercriminals.
Online faxing can save a lot of headaches and even legal trouble. By allowing users to schedule faxes and keep faxes securely stored online rather than being printed and waiting for someone to grab the wrong fax accidentally, you can keep your business organized and out of legal trouble. Cybercriminals are always looking to outsmart and outwit their victims so they can keep getting access to protected materials. Using secure faxing online can give your clients peace of mind.
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