Faxing Medical Documents With HIPAA-Compliant Faxing
Nowadays, the faxing process is handy not only for organizations that decide to work paperless. Sending and receiving faxes is more reliable than emails. Offered protection features of data will be especially useful if you operate in the healthcare industry. Let's sort out how an employee can be sure he/she is HIPAA-compliant while sending a fax with patient data.
Popularity of Faxing Machines
Working with medical documentation implies you function with sensitive data. There are many methods to transmit this data. However, sending medical fax is the most selected way by employees because of its safety. Despite the appearance of new and modern messaging technologies, fax services continue to propose more reliable functions for the protection of patients' information.
The secret is in end-to-end encryption with the assistance of which confidentiality of all sensitive information is guaranteed. Simply speaking, as soon as an employee sends faxes, they will not pass through different networks. This helps to avoid the risks of hacking or compromising private data.
This is one of the main reasons for the utilization of machines for faxes to continue to grow. The biggest percentage usage of such machines can be observed in the healthcare and legal industries. The reason is that these spheres regularly operate with private information.
Be Aware of HIPAA Policy
When an employee intends to send medical records or other files confidential via fax machine, he/she should possess complete representation of the HIPAA faxing policy and advanced compliance methods. This, in its turn, can prevent employees from a lot of trouble and unnecessary stress. After an employee is aware of best compliance practices, he/she can save himself/herself from paying incredible sums of penalties that are inevitable if HIPAA rules are violated.
Aside from ordinary machines for faxes, employees are able to send and receive faxes with a single app. We hasten to respond to the "can you send a fax from an iPhone" question positively. Installing Fax App on your device makes it possible to make quick shots of the necessary documents and share them. Transmitting medical documentation with this application is likewise safe.
To assist you in not breaking any of the HIPAA rules, let's present answers to some questions with the help of which you can make sure that you are compliant with all HIPAA requirements while transmitting faxes with sensitive information of patients.
Have you checked the number of a receiver?
One of the HIPAA violations is sending medical records to the wrong person. To prevent yourself from making this violation, it is important to verify the number of the receiver of faxes. Moreover, before sending faxes, it is recommended to call the chosen receiver to be sure this recipient is ready to accept the faxes.
Is keeping fax logs obligatory?
One of the distinctive peculiarities of machines and an app for sending faxes is the possibility to keep records and logs of docs with relevant information about delivery. This useful function can be utilized as a secure practice for sending faxes. All you need to do is to ensure you attentively browse and familiarize yourself with policies of privacy, access, and storage that your chosen service provider possesses on their terms and agreement.
Are there ways to prevent HIPAA violations if utilizing the application?
In case you decide to use a special application for your iPhone to send faxes, you can still avoid HIPAA violations. The application possesses safe security measures that guarantee that employees will always correspond to HIPAA requirements while sending medical fax. Data protection is a top priority for this application. The tool utilizes end-to-end encryption. This implies your medical institution and patients' data will always be secured from potential cyber-attacks and hackers.
Is there a necessity for special places for fax machines?
In case you are a user of an ordinary machine for delivering files and docs, there is an easy method to make you compliant with HIPAA faxing policy. This is particularly essential if you are going to transmit data about patients to authorized receivers. The best solution is to determine a special and protected place for the machine. In order to raise safety additionally, you can limit access to the designated place. Likewise, you are able to choose from your medical institution definite employees who will possess permission to deliver and obtain Protected Health Information (PHI). This also refers to other sensitive files and docs with which you operate regularly.
Do you not forget about preventive maintenance of your machine for faxes?
Machines for sending and receiving faxes are a type of equipment that needs maintenance. This is a guarantee that the machine will function with high-level performance. There is no doubt that these machines are reliable and secure, however, there is no need to exclude that they can get out of order with improper maintenance. This, in its turn, can lead to some issues for you and your medical institution.
To avoid unnecessary problems, it is enough to carry out scheduled inspections and checks. Also, it is recommended to watch out that all occurred issues, no matter if they are big or small, are resolved instantly.
Conclusion
The process of sending medical documentation as faxes requires attentiveness and carefulness. No matter if you utilize a traditional machine for faxes or an application on your iPhone, you should remember about conformity to HIPAA rules.
If you are afraid you can violate some HIPAA requirements, there is no need to worry in advance. Just check whether you responded to the mentioned above questions and this, in its turn, assists you to make sure you are completely HIPAA compliant.
