Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) refers to any Protected Health Information (PHI) that is covered under Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) security regulations. ePHI is simply PHI which is produced, saved, transferred or received in an electronic form.
Sharing PHI Outside of an EMR
Despite rising use of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) technology within many medical practices, medical providers nonetheless have the need to be able to securely share documents that contain Protected Health Information with recipients that are outside their EMR.
A doctor or other medical professional might need to include PHI in a document sent for purposes of a referral. A doctor might be providing a second opinion, or sending the results of a specialist’s exam.
Some providers also routinely communicate with insurance companies or lawyers as part of accident or workers compensation cases.
PHI Recipients Hard to Predict in Advance
It’s hard to predict in advance who you will need to share PHI-containing documents with. Such sharing of PHI with a recipient might happen infrequently. You might only need to share documents with a particular recipient one time. This typically results in an inability to use a practice EMR or Portal. Yet the sharing has to be timely, electronic, and secure.
The My Docs Online PHI Sharing Solution
The My Docs Online Secure Share feature is often used for just this purpose. Upload one or more documents, Share them, and send the secure link via email. It is secure and HIPAA-compliant.
Options available that enhance security, control and delivery confirmation include:
- Optional password or PIN
- Control how long the secure link is valid
- Add a “Label” to make it easy to track particular Shares
- After-the-fact controls allow changing passwords, Share expiration and cancellation
- The audit trail for each Share records when the recipient took delivery of the documents. The Internet Protocol (IP) address of those downloading each document is also included.
- Our medical provider customers also receive our Business Associate Agreement
This article includes details on all the features included in My Docs Online Secure Sharing for PHI or other HIPAA-compliant needs,
For more information on the specifics of the HIPAA Security Rule see the “what information is protected” section of this Department of Health and Human Services summary.