We can also add on that emails are permanently more secure than faxes, because a lot of practices simply don't properly dispose of printed information.ġ) Could go to the wrong number and anyone could read itĢ) Could go to the right number and anyone could read itģ) Could easily get mixed in with another fax and get lostĤ) Could accidentally get left in the tray and get lostĥ) Image and/or text distorted by the fax process, requiring it to be resent adding more time/money/effort inĢ) Email addresses are less ambiguous than phone numbers decreasing the likelihood of sending it to the wrong place.ģ) 100% digital copy of original data, clear and easy to readĤ) Only those with access to the email address can read itĥ) No risk in forgetting to properly dispose of information as it was never printed I think you are blowing this way out of proportion! So what happens when the email being read is seen by someone else looking at an unattended monitor? If you are in healthcare you follow the rules or you will be terminated sooner or later. Because my job requires me to do certain things I may see PHI but I don't read them and most people in health care don't either. I see faxes occasionally that I don't specifically work with and have PHI. Even if "the wrong person" picked it up it is likely that they know what to do with it and it wasn't an unauthorized passerby helping themselves to faxes.
I really question after reading this how much some of you know about HIPAA? I would go so far as to say 99% of faxes are accessed by someone who works with PHI as part of their job and as such are bound by HIPAA even if they pick one up that was meant for someone else. Email however, gets to the intended recipient (unless their credentials have been compromised). It is bafflingly insecure and should've died in the 1980s.Ī fax can be picked up by anyone walking by the fax machine and so could end up in the wrong person's hands. I find it shocking anyone would suggest that about fax. An email address is less ambiguous than phone numbers and you know for certain in almost all cases who will be reading it. If it doesn't get sent to the wrong number, doesn't get read by anyone else, it may just get accidentally left in the tray and no one ever receives it or gets mixed in with another fax that came before or after it. Information may be cut off or made difficult to read by the facsimile process as well. The idea that you're blindly sending something to another number which you may get wrong is just frightening, and then if it is correct, who knows who, or how many, people will read it. Please correct me if I am wrong but if a fax is sent from sender to recipient using the correct numbers it is safe and bullet proof, please tell me where I am wrong. How can email be more secure than fax? The only problem with a fax is the person sending it could select or enter a wrong number. It may not be best practice but it's still vastly more secure, even in plaintext, than fax, which still amazes me that fax is considered OK at all.