Is Email HIPAA Compliant? – Two Easy Steps You Can Take to Be compliant!
Can email be made truly HIPAA Compliant? This is one of the biggest questions that people on the Internet have been asking recently, and I am sure that you are also wondering if it’s possible to make an email that is HIPAA Compliant. Well, there is no “right” way to set up your email, and it really does not matter whether or not the email you are using is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Email can easily be created HIPAA Compliant, but you have to be very careful and do it correctly.
The first big mistake that many people make is they sign up for an email service that is compliant with the HIPAA and then think their problem is already solved. However, it is not that simple as just a few companies will cover in detail in this article. One way that companies create compliant emails is by using OCR (Optical Character Recognition). This is a computer-assisted scanning method that allows for some pre-determined word boundaries, which can then be used to create “word perfect” emails. This method may seem to be a bit time-consuming, and it is, but in the end, it gives far better results than you would get from other methods, and it can save your health privacy laws.
Another option that you have when it comes to email being HIPAA Compliant is to use encryption that is used between your client data and your email itself. One of the best options that you have today is an open-source application called Open Whisper Systems (OWSS), which is completely free and easy to use. With this type of email, and following the simple guidelines that go with it, you can create emails that are compliant and secure to the HIPAA and stay out of trouble with your federal government email providers and private network email account providers.