Top HIPAA Compliant eFax Services

eFax is HIPAA compliant but let's dig a bit deeper. eFax is also known as electronic fax or cloud fax. It is an upgrade to the traditional fax method of using a telephone and fax machine. Many healthcare organizations use eFax as a secure way of sending and receiving Protected Health Information (PHI). Efax is not susceptible to data breaches like traditional faxing. It is important to note that not every online fax service is HIPAA compliant.

All healthcare industry players are interested in finding a service provider that allows quick communication while keeping any sensitive information they share encrypted and protected.

Partnering with HIPAA-compliant organizations minimizes the change of breaches on either end. Security is a priority whenever information is in transit, rest, or storage. For HIPAA-compliant organizations to partner with other companies, a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) must be in place. Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is also known as Business Associate Contract. It is a written agreement that states the responsibilities of each party that handles PHI. HIPAA requires entities to work only with business associates who can assure the complete protection of PHI.

We have selected the top three eFax HIPAA-compliant service providers for our review. These efax service providers include Concord Cloud, SRFax, and Faxage. We will review them based on their security features, functionality, and usability. If you choose to partner with any of them, they will be willing to sign a Business Associate Agreement with you, as required by HIPAA.

1. Concord Cloud

Concord is one of the leading HIPAA compliant efax service providers to healthcare organizations. It adheres to security standards and is among the top HIPAA-compliant service providers with an intelligent system that identifies and classifies all faxes.

All inbound documents are identified, classified, and routed to the right person or groups. Additionally, shared queues allow teams to track down all processed documents. As a result, this simplifies collaboration on document processes from anywhere. Such simplicity makes the workflow move faster.

It is easy to access documents with Concord because they are text-searchable. Another excellent feature is the availability of machine learning that reduces manual data. It finds and extracts the data you need from your documents. No matter where the document is or how it is referenced, it will be located. Thus, it simplifies the process of integrating patient data into your system.

Concord is 100% cloud-based, meaning there is no software to install. You will be up and running in a few days. It also acts like your typical email and will let you do the following:

Receive and manage faxes in your inbox and notify you when the fax you sent has been delivered.
Send documents in different formats such as PDF, XPS, or TIF attachments.
Archive, forward, or save the above documents like an ordinary email.
Concord Portal will help you track, send, and retrieve files.

How Concord Cloud Ensures that they are HIPAA Compliant

Concord Cloud Fax ensures that communication is encrypted through HTTP or TLS. Additionally, an image retention plan simplifies security by auto-deleting all images when you set it that way. Concord Cloud data centers are well secured and guarded. Further, they have restricted controlled badge access for all data centers. To make sure their infrastructure and organization are adequate to protect patient data, Concord Cloud has completed the SSAE 16 audit procedures.

2. SRFax

SRFax is HIPAA compliant has been around for years. They cater to both healthcare and non-healthcare businesses. It allows you as many authorized email addresses as possible, and there are various monthly and yearly service tiers. With each tier, you can add other users with their fax numbers. However, extra users can only view their faxes.

SRFax electronic fax is not complicated to set up since a web browser and email account are the only requirements. You are also provided with a simple management system that works with all email services. Additionally, SRFax gives you a fax number, either local or toll-free, and offers you unlimited online storage. Finally, if you want to print a document without the hassle of logging in to your SRFax account or using email, there is an SRFax Printer Driver you can download for free.

The company offers a 30-day free trial period, and each service level comes with consolidated billing. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel this free trial before 30 days are over. There are no hidden costs or start-up fees, and their tiered pricing plans are designed to meet all business needs, including small businesses.

How SRFax Ensures HIPAA Compliance

SRFax is one of the HIPAA-compliant service providers. They ensure data security by using a 2448-bit SSL certification. Besides, they also use 2048-bit RSA public keys and PGP encryption. SRFax also uses encrypted session ID cookies that identify every user when they log in. If you want to restrict which computers can access your account, you can limit through IP address ranges and subnet masks. You can only access your account through SSL encrypted user word and password.

3. Faxage

Faxage is HIPAA compliant and has also been around for more than a decade and has proven its capability to provide secure fax services. There is a HIPAA Faxing Checklist to guide you when setting up an account. The checklist ensures HIPAA compliance and securely sends messages. Also, to be aware of how users use their data, Faxage will provide you with a full internet Fax System Auditing.

You can send and receive faxes through email or log in through the Faxage website. Faxes are received via password protection, PGP, or a link through secure email. When sending an eFax, you can do so through the Faxage website, TLS Secured Email Transport, Faxage Print-to-Fax Driver, and the PGP Encrypt-Your-Attachments.

Faxage has a 30-day money-back guarantee which applies to all plans. Also, their accounts have access to fax to email, email to fax, web faxing, and API fax. You are also supplied with unlimited email addresses and online fax storage without extra costs.

How Faxage Ensures HIPAA Compliance

Faxage provides different security and encryption methods. These include: Password-protected incoming PDFs, SSL/TLS email transport encryption, SSL/TLS encryption for all web and API based faxing, SSL and TLS secured print to fax driver, email link to download incoming faxes, and PGP support for email fax sending.

Conclusion

eFax is used by healthcare organizations to send and receive PHI whether it is in transit, at rest, or in storage. Your company and those you partner with must be HIPAA compliant to send and receive such information.

For HIPAA-compliant organizations to partner with companies using Protected Health Information, a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) must be in place. This agreement specifies each party's responsibilities in protecting PHI. The top three HIPAA-compliant service providers we have reviewed are willing to sign the BAA with your company. That agreement ensures your electronic fax transactions are always secure if you partner with them.