What is a HIPAA Compliant Fax
The word HIPAA compliant is used by many organizations as measure of security and safety of Electronic Personal Health Information (ePHI). Maintaining the security of ePHI is critical in today’s healthcare landscape as fines for mishandling and exposure of this information is steep and the government is no longer as tolerant of mistakes due to lack of training or education as HIPAA has been around since the mid-90’s when then President Clinton signed it into law.
When it comes to fax, HIPAA compliance takes a different role. Ensuring all faxes that contain ePHI have certain safeguards in place to keep yourself out of trouble.
In order to be HIPAA Compliant a fax must have a coversheet that includes:
- Date and time sent
- Sender’s name and organization
- Sender’s phone number
- Recipient’s name
- Recipient’s fax number
- HIPAA fax disclaimer
An example of a HIPAA compliant fax disclaimer is:
The documents accompanying this facsimile transmittal are intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. These documents may contain information that is privileged, confidential and exempt from disclosure under law. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, you are notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that law strictly prohibits any disclosure, copying, distribution or action taken in reliance on the contents of these documents. If you have received this fax in error, please notify the sender immediately to arrange for return of these documents.
You can include a contact name and number in the disclaimer to report any issues or unauthorized disclosures.
While having a disclaimer doesn’t prevent HIPAA violations from occurring it is important that an organization follows proper HIPAA guidelines regardless to prevent fines due to negligence.
Jblast can be used to send HIPAA compliant faxes. Make sure to include coversheets and consult your organizations HIPAA compliance guidelines to make sure your fax communications are safe and secure.
