Granite Recovery Centers

Granite Recovery Centers (GRC) is dedicated to helping people facing substance use disorders. It was founded by Eric Spofford, who had struggled with addiction before getting sober himself. Based in New Hampshire, GRC offers hope to adults across New England and beyond, with residential facilities, sober homes, and outpatient programs. The organization uses a holistic approach, treating each of its clients as a whole person, incorporating the medical, clinical, and psychosocial aspects of each person’s needs.

Challenge

GRC has 15 locations, including residential treatment facilities, sober homes, outpatient programs, and corporate offices. Some of those locations comprise multiple buildings, and it seems as though GRC’s 300+ employees are always on the move. 

GRC needed a secure communication solution that didn’t bog its users down in password-protected portals or sender-based encryption tools. Clients trust GRC with protected health information (PHI) as part of its substance use disorder work. Supporting a streamlined email workflow for GRC’s employees while maintaining 100% HIPAA compliant email encryption was important for GRC.

GRC communicates regularly with a range of outside stakeholders, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, referral sources like social workers and physicians, law enforcement, parole officers, unions, and others. When exchanging information with entities like these, security and compliance are paramount.

One particular area of need for GRC was a HIPAA compliant mobile solution. With so many employees moving among so many different locations, the GRC team needed to send encrypted email from their smartphones. 

“On any given day, we have multiple resources deployed at different times, in different places. We might have critical patient issues or need to communicate with a provider or referral source urgently,” said Scott Sasserson, GRC’s chief operating officer. “Mobility was a big factor in favor of Paubox. Having that flexibility, without compromising security, is key.”

Solution

Once GRC learned more about the HIPAA compliant encryption available through Paubox Email Suite, Paubox was the clear choice for the organization. Paubox simplifies the process of email encryption, providing always-on encryption for every email sent, with no extra steps needed. While other solutions use clunky portals or rely on users to remember to enter the right words in a subject line every time, Paubox operates in the background. Every email is encrypted automatically, whether sent from a smartphone, computer, or any other device. Paubox Email Suite is HITRUST CSF certified, which means that it meets the industry’s highest standard for email security and HIPAA compliance.

“It’s simple and seamless. Paubox is there day to day, and it’s protecting everyone in the organization. You don’t have to worry about it,” Sasserson said. 

With Paubox Email Suite in place, the GRC team can concentrate on what’s most important: helping clients overcome addiction. 

The integration process was quick and easy. “All we had to do was provide the Paubox team the information they needed to set it up. Once we did that, it was live within 24 hours.” Sasserson said. GRC also appreciates Paubox’s excellent customer service, which Sasserson calls “consistently great.”

Results

Over the past year, Paubox has encrypted more than 20 million emails on behalf of 327 GRC employees with emails across six domains. In addition to always-on encryption, GRC has reaped the benefits of streamlined workflows across the organization, which enable the team to work more efficiently and productively. 

“There’s a wonderful sense of peace of mind, knowing that Paubox is in place and that every message is being encrypted,” Sasserson concluded.