Notwithstanding a shift towards virtual and electronic solutions like email, a fax machine is still an essential tool across many healthcare institutions, serving as an efficient way of transmission and reception of Protected Health Information (PHI).
While fax may appear obsolete, a recent transition to virtualized fax services has improved usability and the confidentiality of shared data. Online fax systems combine traditional fax and email, permitting users to exchange data in digital format over an encrypted internet network without the need for expensive hardware.
What is HIPAA-Compliant eFax?
HIPAA requires organizations to protect sensitive information while it is idle, in circulation, and in storage. When faxing PHI, businesses should protect the confidentiality of said personal information during the process of transmission. Health insurance portability and accountability efax solutions are an excellent substitute for traditional fax machines, which are being phased out by many enterprises.
It’s not simply a question of patient confidentiality and your institution’s credibility; it is also required by law. Any use of the web and internet technologies to transmit fax instead of a traditional phone line and fax is known as cloud fax, efax, or online fax.
Even the most seasoned professional IT staff may struggle to comply with the countless pages of thick legal terminology in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). It might be hard to determine if your fax operations comply with HIPAA standards and criteria.
HIPAA Fax vs Email: Which Is More Secure?
Even after understanding which HIPAA eFax providers exist, not everybody has wholly embraced the concept of faxing records online. Some people and corporations still choose to communicate via email. Email is still the most used form of digital communication, but it is incredibly vulnerable to hackers and fraudulent assaults.
Additionally, the amount of cryptography employed in emails is insufficient for securing sensitive data. While you can take measures to preserve email secrecy, they can not protect users from others opening or forwarding an email by accident.
Using HIPAA-compliant digital fax solutions is far safer when delivering essential data. Many organizations have met stringent regulations to secure health data.
What are the Key HIPAA Compliance Requirements
Entities must work to establish guidelines and policies for electronic communications that sustain protected health information and grant access exclusively to those people or apps who’ve been given user privileges:
- Transmission Security: A covered organization must establish technical security precautions to safeguard against security breaches to electronically protected health information when it is transferred via an electronic network infrastructure.
- Cryptography: Implementing a system to cipher and decode electronically protected health information is an appropriate and reasonable precaution for organizations.
Incorporate technology, software, and/or regulatory techniques to track and evaluate activities in computer networks containing or using electronically protected health information.
Tips for Sending HIPAA-Compliant Fax
It is not easy to achieve full HIPAA compliance. Knowing whether each vendor is HIPAA-compliant is just not enough. It is advisable to take additional precautions to protect the security of PHI at all times.
When a HIPAA-compliant online fax provider provides additional protection, your PC is not inherently secure. That is why you should never leave your fax machine unsecured or unsupervised. Also, remember to log out of your account after using it. Check that all of your devices are password-protected and that two-factor verification is always turned on.
By appropriately discarding private fax papers, you may avoid unintended exposures. Don’t dump them in the recycle bin on your device. Erase any sensitive documents so they are impossible to recover.
Taking sufficient privacy precautions enhances system security. This decreases the danger and exposure to any potential data intrusion.
The Best HIPAA eFax Providers
Health practitioners must make an informed fax service decision to ensure the confidentiality of shared PHI throughout. We examined a variety of finest HIPAA-compliant Google fax services:
1. WesternFax
provides HIPAA-compliant eFax solutions to state agencies, health practitioners, and financial institutions via a fully-virtualized infrastructure. The WestFax API provides for a simple connection with current systems, and the transfer is made more accessible by the availability of a specialized planning department. WestFax is HIPAA-compliant from the start, fulfilling or surpassing all HIPAA criteria. Data transfers remain protected with TLS 1.2, storage is secured with AES 256, and users profit from encryption algorithms such as automated logouts, verification checks, and substantial access control requirements. WestFax provides a free trial and various options to fulfill its clientele’s demands.
2. Documo
offers a robust software package that includes mDrive, mSign, and mFax as virtualized fax solutions for enterprises in regulated markets. mFax is straightforward to integrate into current systems and has an intuitive UI. mFax subscriptions provide 1Gigabyte of data of storage by default, enabling consumers to store, retrieve, and distribute received faxes. Documo focuses on a firm security posture, guaranteeing that data is secured during transfers and in storage, with controlled accessibility. Compliance records, intrusion monitoring, and automated log-outs at intervals.
3. Fax.Plus
A safe online fax platform with over 2.5 million international customers. It caters to both individual individuals and small and medium-sized healthcare organizations. It offers a diverse eFax solution with high performance and a robust faxing infrastructure. It ensures data encryption in storage, and when it gets transferred, its applications support two-factor authentication and single sign-on (SSO) architecture.
4. Concord
A prominent healthcare eFax service provider. It offers a certified HIPAA-compliant eFax service to health practitioners. Users can be confident that their information will be delivered securely, privately, and at the right time. Concord ensures business uptime and increased reliability. Streamlined file circulation guarantees that faxes are sent to the correct person or team. Its system uses AI and Machine Learning to extract critical data.
Concord requires users to have strong passwords, AES 256-bit encryption, audit protocols, and intrusion prevention to ensure the security of shared resources. It also supports an image retention policy that enables the automated deletion of photos at specific intervals.
5. FAXAGE
A prominent market champion throughout the digital fax services industry, managing its infrastructure and serving individuals and small and large businesses customers. It offers reasonably priced products, with no additional fees for limitless fax storage and unlimited users.
The service contracts meet HIPAA requirements, providing features such as certified SSL cryptography for API-based faxing, email encryption, secure Print to Fax drivers, and an SSL-certified Fax platform for mobile devices. It provides an online auditing solution that enables overall tracking of your fax network.
6. eFax
With more than 11 million members, eFAx is a leading producer of HIPAA-compliant, virtualized fax services. Their customers enjoy a safe and dependable network infrastructure that is supported by a large pool of accessible data.
eFax handles over 165 different file types, exceeding most of its peers. Customers who implement the eFax Enterprise solution receive a certified secure HIPAA-compliant fax app. This plan includes advanced security features such as TLS 1.2 cryptography for eFax and AES 256-bit Security testing for administrator rights, fax storage, user IDs, analytics, and data storage durability.
7. Innoport
HIPAA-compliant internet fax technology aims to keep confidential patient data private. Its services remain accessible to all sorts of businesses, including public institutions and private hospitals. Many security controls, such as cryptographic encryption, TLS-encoded emails, protected FTP fax, regulated servers, protected data storage, and a comprehensive and secure data HTTPS API, ensure distributed data protection.
8. Medsender
Offers HIPAA-compliant faxes, Text messaging, signing, email, and document management. This cloud solution is compatible with the majority of mainstream EMRs. Medsender analyzes fax data using ai technology, automates routine activities, and streamlines procedures. By incorporating hardware and software protections like encrypting data in storage and when transferring it, authentication and authorization management, intrusion prevention, record keeping and tracking, penetration testing, backup, and recovery. Including HIPAA coaching.
9. iFax
Offers dependable fax solutions that are cheap and user-friendly. It allows users to share fax files without a dedicated fax line and no monthly fees. Its 256-bit edge encryption enables secure eFax transfer of delicate documents. It is HIPAA-compliant and provides the most incredible solution for healthcare workers when managing sensitive data such as Protected Health Information.
You distribute fax messages, check the fax status of your transmission from your phone, and receive instant email notifications.
10. SRFax
A reputable HIPAA-compliant internet fax solutions provider helping medical practitioners share private patient records. It offers many plans, including an endless supply of approved email accounts and cloud storage. HIPAA-compliant packages are somewhat more costly than typical SRFax options, but they fulfill all security criteria. SRFax uses SSO, two-factor verification, and access restriction to maintain safeguards.
11. InterFAX
offers care providers a cloud-hosted and enterprise-ready fax solution worldwide. Their developer fax API enables simple connection with a healthcare institution’s current systems, plus their solutions are quick-to-scale, assisting the growth of companies. InterFax follows stringent business statutory obligations, including HIPAA, ISO 27001 accreditation, PHIPA, and PCI DSS Level 1 certification.
It takes privacy seriously, encrypting incoming and outgoing faxes using TLS, implementing strong identity management, a detailed audit trail, automating reporting activities, and automatically deleting transmitted faxes.
