Covered entities should use HIPAA compliant software vendors to ensure the protection of sensitive patient data. Work management software is no exception. While healthcare providers may want a way to organize operations and tasks, HIPAA security rules still need to be considered.Let's review Nifty and if it is HIPAA compliant.
Work management software that transfers, stores, or accesses protected health information (PHI) are considered business associates. If a covered entity wants to work with a business associate, it needs a business associate agreement (BAA) to stay HIPAA compliant.
The BAA is a crucial legal document between business associates and covered entities. It covers the duties and responsibilities of a business associate to keep PHI secure. Business associates that won't participate in a BAA aren't considered HIPAA compliant vendors.
Nifty doesn't mention on its website any willingness to sign a BAA or work with healthcare providers. Nifty may not even have the appropriate technical safeguards to protect PHI.
In its Terms of Service, the company states "You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Service, including your content, may be transferred unencrypted."
No, Nifty isn't a HIPAA compliant vendor. Nifty doesn't appear to want to sign a BAA to ensure HIPAA compliance. The company also seems to lack the appropriate data security features like ensuring data encryption for all content.
Email continues to be a significant threat vector for covered entities. Healthcare professionals should make it a top priority to protect PHI.
Paubox Email Suite Plus can safely and easily send data in emails. Paubox automatically encrypts all emails that your employees send, and the messages arrive directly to your patient's inbox. You no longer need to use patient portals or third-party apps to safely communicate with your patients.
Besides sending HIPAA compliant email, Paubox is also dedicated to protecting your inbox from malicious emails with robust inbound security tools. We are always updating our features and recently added Zero Trust email for an extra layer of authentication and ensures emails are genuine.
All Paubox plans include a BAA with no additional fee or work. So you can rest assured that Paubox will always stay committed to protecting your email from unauthorized access.