HIPAA compliance for email is required for all practitioners who work within the healthcare industry, including therapists. Most therapists are busy, solo practitioners, and do not know or understand how easy HIPAA compliancy can be so that their focus can always be on helping their patients.
This post will explain the basic parts of HIPAA, HIPAA compliant email and how Paubox provides a hassle-free, secure communication method that's simple for anyone to use.
All healthcare providers must ensure that security measures are in place when dealing with protected health information (PHI). This includes physical and electronic modes of communication and storage. The Privacy Rule also clarifies when PHI is shareable by therapists and includes provisions to keep their appointment notes separate and confidential.
Rather than viewing HIPAA as a hindrance, we should view it as a set of guidelines that provide protection for patients and providers, people in therapy and the therapists themselves. A HIPAA compliant email protects PHI while the sensitive data is within a therapist’s inbox, during transmission, and until it reaches the recipient's inbox. Protection is absolutely needed as email is considered the number one threat vector in healthcare.
Related: What is a Threat Vector and Why It’s Important to Define
And we protect our email through two-factor authentication, locked storage, and email encryption, the most effective method to protect PHI. How therapists communicate is vital for solid patient care; security is the utmost importance.
Unfortunately, popular email providers such as Gmail/Google Workspace and Yahoo are not compliant. And portals can add too many steps and hurdles; none of the above provide both the security and ease needed. Not ideal, especially when therapists need to focus on delivering positive health outcomes, not troubleshooting why someone can't log into a secure email portal. Especially when margins are already razor-thin for most practices.
Related: How Paubox Helped the Colorado Center for Clinical Excellence Modernize & Secure Their Email
Paubox helps you protect sensitive data in a simple way: we provide seamless encryption without asking for a change in user behavior, like extra clicks or remembering an extra portal login. Our email solution also integrates with Google Workspace Microsoft 365, and other business email providers so you don’t even have to change your email address.
Paubox Email Suite is a seamless, hassle-free method to protect communication while you provide needed patient care. It should always be about the client, but why not make it easier on yourself as well?