Home Forums Discussions General Discussion HIPAA

What email programs are people using to communicate with patients that is HIPPA compliant? Is anyone using updox to email back and forth with patients?

Ketan,

I am a bit overly cautious but the only means I am allowing my nurse is mail, fax, telephone, or secure messaging within the Updox portal. Except technically the only e-mailing is the message sent to the patient that they have a message in the Updox portal (but no patient information). We are in the process of transitioning to GoDaddy for the front office staff to secure-email.
With the HIPAA police on the prowl I want to be fanatic about security.

Ketan,

This has more to do with general office security and protection against malware, but also looking into this as well.
http://www.contentwatch.com/

Do you know if you can send mass emails to all the patients using the updox portal without having everyone elses emails showing?

There is a Practice broadcast feature; I believe that is what you would be looking to use.

Where are these HIPAA police?

Ketan,

I know nothing of UpDox so please excuse my ignorance. With UpDox, do the emails have to be addressed on a To: field? Or can you use a Bcc?

Bert,

http://www.scmagazine.com/feds-step-up-hipaa-enforcement-with-hospice-settlement/article/274916/

If they come sniffing around my neck of the woods, I do not want to give them any lead way. I do not have 50 grand sitting around to get them off my back.

The Updox portal is encrypted and password protected.

I'm not too worried about HIPAA. I doubt I would leave a laptop in my car unattended or ever. I can't recall how many times I stated taking your data home on a flash drive wasn't a good idea. (not you). But, UpDox has nothing to do with it. It's your data on AC. It has to be encrypted. Even then, most of the articles are talking about stolen computers.

It would be fun to ask the HIPAA police what is the difference between servers and chart racks. Are offices liable for the information in the charts? I guess that depends on whether they lock their doors and have security alarms. And, if you forget to lock the door?

I can't believe they pay these people.

Bert,

I am not so concerned with the encryption of AC but the electronic transmittal of information from my nurse to patient or vice versa. Updox satisfies my protection in that realm, but I realize there are other ways to do it.
I like having the secure portal, e-fax, and AC all interlinked for efficiency.
But I have included one more link regarding emailing patient info and HIPAA.

http://www.ehow.com/about_6123214_hipaa-e_mailing-patient-information.html

Bert:

I am looking into updox by talking to them and will post an update.

Also how do you protect your server ? I lock my IT closet at night so the cleaning crew can't be in there...i am not sure what else to do.

by the way i had an incident yesterday which i am not sure was a hippa violoation but a couple patients started screaming about it whne we made an honest mistake..that is where this all started from.