Q&A: Best practices for faxing PHI

Q: What have you seen as best practices with faxing PHI? We still rely often on faxing patient records.

A: Despite the increase in electronic health records, many providers still rely on faxed records to provide information for continued care outside their networks. Here are some recommendations to protect faxed health information:

• Fax the minimum amount of information needed. Voluminous records should be photocopied and sent by mail or a delivery service.
• Program frequently used fax numbers into your fax machine to avoid faxing information to the wrong number.
• If the fax number is an unfamiliar one, try faxing a test document first. Call the recipient to ensure receipt of the test document before faxing PHI.
• Use a cover sheet that identifies your organization, states the legal protections for health information, and asks recipients of misdirected faxes to contact you immediately and return or destroy the information.

Editor’s note: Question answered by Mary Brandt, a healthcare consultant specializing in healthcare regulatory compliance and operations improvement. This information does not constitute legal advice. Consult legal counsel for answers to specific privacy and security questions. Opinions expressed are those of the author and do not represent HCPro or ACDIS. Email your HIPAA questions to Associate Editor Heidi Samuelson at hsamuelson@hcpro.com.