The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that all organizations that handle and transmit patients’ health information must implement security systems to safeguard confidentiality. Primary doctors, dentists, and other healthcare providers must use a HIPAA compliant email to prevent security breaches when communicating with patients. When selecting an email provider, make sure they follow standard data encryption practices and implement access controls. Here are four questions to ask your email provider about HIPAA compliance:
1. How Do You Prevent Unauthorized Access to Patient Data?
Access controls are a security measure that makes sure only authorized staff and patients can access protected health information (PHI). Though basic password protection is a good first line of defense, it is the most susceptible to hackers. Access controls take additional steps to verify user identity before PHI can be accessed. Some safeguards include:
- User Identification: Electronic PHI files should only be accessible by those with designated usernames and passwords. Our passwords require a two-factor authentication for additional security.
- Assigned Access Levels: A user’s role should dictate their ability to access PHI. Doctors should be able to view full medical records, while secretaries may only see appointment details.
- Audit Trails: Systems can track user activity to see who accessed data and when.
2. How Do You Guard Against Cyber Attacks?
HIPAA compliant email services must have end-to-end encryption to prevent PHI from being accessed while emails are in transit or storage. Encryptions make data anonymous and unreadable until it is unencrypted by the intended recipient. This means that if a hacker obtains the email, they cannot extract PHI from the message. Enterprise Guardian uses the most secure encryption algorithm available to keep patient data safe in the long term.
Phishing emails are a common type of cyber attack. Phishing emails appear to be from a trusted sender and try to trick recipients into providing personal information. Our system recognizes a phishing email’s tells, such as misspellings and awkward grammar, and filters over 95% of suspicious emails. Removing phishing emails from your inbox helps eliminate the risk of data breaches that can compromise PHI.
3. Is Stored Electronic PHI Secure?
HIPAA requires that medical providers retain patient documents, including emails with PHI, for at least six years. This makes sure information is available for reference during and after a patient’s care period. Like emails in transit, unprotected stored emails are susceptible to hackers. Our HIPAA compliant email service includes data protection with a backup plan. We can back up your practice’s data in real-time, securely archiving all email messages.
When you need to send stored files to patients or other providers, secured file attachments can be added to emails. Attachments often have time expirations and password protection to limit access once the message reaches the recipient’s inbox. This helps safeguard against unauthorized PHI access after it leaves your practice’s network.
4. How Do You Limit Human Error When Sending PHI?
When sending PHI through email, potential HIPAA violations could occur due to human error. These mistakes may include sending an email to the wrong person, providing too much information, or forgetting to activate encryption settings. Data loss prevention plans help minimize these errors. Outgoing emails are automatically scanned for private information, such as credit card or social security numbers. Our system quarantines messages containing this data and notifies the sender that the email’s contents must be adjusted or encrypted. This final review can prevent accidental HIPAA violations.
Protect Information With a HIPAA Compliant Email
A HIPAA compliant email service helps safeguard PHI against cyber attacks when it is sent to patients and other healthcare providers. End-to-end encryption and secure cloud storage maintain patient confidentiality during and after health correspondence. Enterprise Guardian also offers telehealth and cloud storage services so your practice remains HIPAA compliant at every stage of the care process. Contact us today to learn more about sending and storing PHI securely.