Medical Records Security . Is faxed information regulated differently under HIPAA?

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What happens if the faxed information accidentally goes to the wrong recipient or a breach occurs? So to help shed some light on this topic, the HIPAA medical records experts at Data. File have added some of our comments on the subject of faxing medical records. Straight from the HIPAA FAQ section of HHS.

Does the Security Rule apply to written and oral communications? Answer: No. The standards and specifications of the Security Rule are specific to electronic protected health information (e- PHI). It should be noted however that e- PHI also includes telephone voice response and fax back systems because they can be used as input and output devices for electronic information systems.

E- PHI does not include paper- to- paper faxes or video teleconferencing or messages left on voice mail, because the information being exchanged did not exist in electronic form before the transmission. In contrast, the requirements of the Privacy Rule apply to all forms of PHI, including written and oral. Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule permit a doctor, laboratory, or other health care provider to share patient health information for treatment purposes by fax, e- mail, or over the phone? Answer: Yes. The Privacy Rule allows covered health care providers to share protected health information for treatment purposes without patient authorization, as long as they use reasonable safeguards when doing so.

These treatment communications may occur orally or in writing, by phone, fax, e- mail, or otherwise. The Privacy Rule requires that covered health care providers apply reasonable safeguards when making these communications to protect the information from inappropriate use or disclosure. These safeguards may vary depending on the mode of communication used. For example, when faxing protected health information to a telephone number that is not regularly used, a reasonable safeguard may involve a provider first confirming the fax number with the intended recipient. Similarly, a covered entity may pre- program frequently used numbers directly into the fax machine to avoid misdirecting the information.

When discussing patient health information orally with another provider in proximity of others, a doctor may be able to reasonably safeguard the information by lowering his or her voice. Most of HIPAA Security references how information is STORED not necessarily how it’s DELIVERED. As an example? You must apply the Safeguard Principles, even when faxing information.

If you print out a record from your EMR and FAX it from its paper form, is it e. PHI at this point or PHI? Use REASONABLE effort when faxing to a number that is not regularly used. Reference the second HHS. FAQ above (“. We’ve heard many HIPAA Overkill stories of offices that fax a “prefax” to every single fax number that is not programmed into their fax machine. Nowhere in HIPAA does it state that you have to control or safeguard the actions of others or situations that are not within your control. When faxing, the reasonable effort you can deploy is to define the HR characteristics of a high quality, high integrity person that you allow to use the fax machine.

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Protecting PHI is important! Implementing best practice HIPAA protocols matters! Know when to consider an unauthorized disclosure a breach of information. A question we have been asked more than once? As always, please consult with your own legal counsel on any of the information presented above. The information presented is not legal advice, but simply a conversation of experience.

If you have a specific HIPAA- related release of information question not addressed here, contact the experts at Data. File, and you may see the answer featured on our blog! Don’t forget to check out our other release of information resources and electronic release of information services on our website.