Since Paubox is a Business Associate to thousands of customers, we’ve been wondering if they are able to use VIPRE in a HIPAA compliant manner. In fact, we've noticed more vendors, customers, and prospects asking about HIPAA compliant services. This is especially true now as we see an accelerated, long overdue adoption of digital transformation in healthcare.
We know the HIPAA industry is vast, so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud services in this sector. Today we will determine if VIPRE offers HIPAA compliant cloud service or not.
VIPRE
VIPRE develops cybersecurity products focused on endpoint and email security along with advanced threat intelligence applications. VIPRE is based in Clearwater, Florida. It was acquired in 2018 by j2 Global. The company has undergone a dizzying array of acquisitions over the years and their product lines are confusing to grasp.
What is a Business Associate?
A Business Associate is a person or company that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for a Covered Entity. In a nutshell, the role of a Business Associate is to help Covered Entities comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule R
ead full article: What does it mean to be a Business Associate?
Business Associate Agreement provisions
If a Business Associate provides services to a Covered Entity, then a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) must be in place. A BAA is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate and is required by law for HIPAA compliance. At a minimum, a Business Associate Agreement contains 10 provisions.
Read full article: Business Associate Agreement Provisions
VIPRE and the Business Associate Agreement
We checked the VIPRE site for mention of their ability to sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). We found the following pages:
On those pages, we can see that:
- It's very difficult to ascertain which "Health Care Industry" VIPRE alludes to for its FuseMail product. We got the impression the solution is targeted towards the U.K. and not U.S. healthcare
- VIPRE makes no mention of their stance on HIPAA compliance on their Terms of Service (TOS) or Privacy Policy pages
Does VIPRE offer HIPAA Compliant Service?
The Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate. We were able to learn the following about VIPRE about their ability to be considered a HIPAA compliant solution:
- VIPRE does not explicitly state they are HIPAA compliant
- VIPRE appears to be targeting European markets
- There is no mention of HIPAA compliance or being able to sign a Business Associate Agreement anywhere on their site
Conclusion: Since VIPRE does not make any mention of HIPAA compliance or their ability to sign a BAA, we cannot recommend them as a HIPAA compliant cloud service.
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Hoala Greevy
