What Types of Practices Need HIPAA Compliant Secure Emails?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, commonly called HIPAA, established standards for medical workers who deal with patient data. Enterprise Guardian provides secure emails to healthcare organizations seeking HIPAA compliance. Here’s more information about who needs to meet these government regulations:

Types of Compliance

Identifying patient information like name, date of birth, and medical history is called Protected Health Information (PHI). HIPAA regulates how healthcare providers handle PHI to prevent identity theft, fraud, and other crimes. Compliance regulations can be generalized into three rules: 

• The Privacy Rule mandates that only the minimum amount of data necessary to provide treatment and payment be used, disclosed, or requested. 
• The Security Rule requires that data be protected by administrative, physical, and digital safety measures to prevent leaks or hacks. 
• The Breach Notification Rule mandates that all affected parties be notified of security failures within standardized time limits.

Coming into compliance entails enacting programs that control how administrators gather, store, and access PHI. Enterprise Guardian simplifies the process of meeting regulatory standards. We provide data services that protect patients with sophisticated access and tracking features. 

Covered Entities

Confidential or identifying patient data that is collected, stored, and transmitted digitally is called electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI). ePHI is often gathered during intake, utilized while providing services, and shared as part of billing. Organizations, institutions, or individuals that use or transmit ePHI are Covered Entities (CEs) and fall under HIPAA’s jurisdiction. Every CE, of any type, needs to follow HIPAA guidelines, including using a secure email. 

Health Plans

Health plans are organizations that authorize and pay for procedures. They include health insurance companies, health maintenance organizations (HMOs), and employer-sponsored health plans. Some governmental services also qualify, including state or federal programs that pay for treatments like Medicare and Medicaid, as well as military and veteran health services. 

Providers

Healthcare providers qualify as CEs when they submit HIPAA transactions. This occurs when administrators exchange financial or administrative information electronically as part of performing healthcare services. These include sending claims to insurance companies and requesting patients’ medical histories. Providers can be organizations or individuals, and they may provide many kinds of healthcare services. Types of covered providers include doctors, psychologists, dentists, chiropractors, and group care facilities like clinics, nursing homes, and pharmacies. 

Clearinghouses and Business Associates

Third-party medical organizations qualify as Covered Entities if they deal with ePHI, and need to conform to HIPAA email regulations. A clearinghouse processes data from client organizations into different formats to meet regulatory needs. Companies hired by a CE to provide a healthcare-related service are recognized under HIPAA as Business Associates and also qualify. Common Business Associate organizations include claims processors, consultants, and independent contractors like medical transcriptionists.

Seek Our Services for Secure Emails

Enterprise Guardian hosts emails on our own servers, which allows us to provide algorithm-encrypted protection at an affordable rate. We also offer risk assessments, employee training programs, tracking software that manages users and times, and emergency access procedures. Contact us today to bring secure emails and modern data management to your organization.