Email Security Hipaa
email security hipaa
Legal obligations are forcing the need for online security in business
There are now laws on both sides of the Atlantic to expose employers to charges of liability and harassment. These charges can be brought even if the harassment comes from a faceless, unknown global Spammer. Being ‘unaware’ of having to shield your employees is no excuse in the eyes of the law and taking such issues lightly with a low-end solution for Viruses, Spam, Sexually Explicit Material and Unwelcome Content will not protect employers from litigation.
Email, the Internet, Data retention and legal compliance?
There are a host of Acts and legislative guidelines across an array of sectors and industries which advocate compliance in relation to electronic communications and data retention within organisations regardless of size! Numerous government bodies and standards agencies are continuously advocating new guidelines and implementing laws that affect different sectors in various ways from health and education establishments to enterprises and government.
However, the overall attention and seriousness such laws are being awarded across all industries as a whole, is testimony to the seriousness of the issue and the necessity for organisations and IT mangers to really take note!
Just some of these acts and legislative guidelines include:
- SoX
- HIPAA
- FRCP
- HITECH
- Freedom of information Act
- Data Protection act
- Employers Duty of Care
- Information retention act
- PCI compliance
Given the extensive list of legislation regarding email and data management in the workplace that is currently active, the issue regarding legalities and electronic communications is clearly one to take note of! However unfortunately that’s not the case with even IT managers admitting to be uncertain or unclear of such legislation and the resulting ramifications.
Legal ‘Guidelines’ versus enforced ‘laws’
Across the various industry sectors there are lists upon lists of rules and guidelines which refer in some way to an organisation’s duty to their employees and customers in reference to online usage and data storage. In fairness a number of these ‘legislative rules’ are closer to guidelines as opposed to enforced law. However, this does not mean that organisations will not be negatively affected if they are found to treat each with total disregard. It only takes an employee to bring a ‘failure to comply’ to the fore and even if the complaint is not legally binding, an organisation seen to be completely ignoring their ‘duty of care’, can have a significant damage to the company’s image, public relations and future, particularly if they operate in the commercial sphere.
What does the ‘Duty of Care’ act mean for organisations?
In reference to organisations and their employees, the ‘duty of care’ act is legally binding on the employer. Basically the requirement is that an employer must abide by what the law refers to as a standard of reasonable care.
Thus if an issue arises such as cyber bullying in the workplace and the employer has neglected their responsibility in relation to the duty of care act, the employee affected is quite likely and within their rights, to proceed with a negligence claim.
So in order to avoid such an occurrence and minimise the chances of any case being built, it is paramount that the organisation in question can prove they have taken their ‘duty of care’ responsibilities serious. For example in regard to electronic communications or the internet, if the organisation has implemented an effective email and/or web filtering service that protects their employees whilst online this automatically proves their dedication to ensuring their staffs safety in the online aspect of their work.
HIPAA Email Security Case Study: Children’s National Medical Center
|
|
HIPAA drives encrypted E-Mail. (Privacy, Security Requirements).(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ): An article from: Clinical Psychiatry News $5.95 This digital document is an article from Clinical Psychiatry News, published by International Medical News Group on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 569 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation… |
|
|
New HIPAA regulations require encrypted e-mail in patient communication: privacy, security requirements. (Practice Trends).: An article from: Skin & Allergy News $5.95 This digital document is an article from Skin & Allergy News, published by International Medical News Group on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 631 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation Deta… |
|
|
HIPAA rules expected to drive switch to encrypted physician-patient e-mail: privacy, security requirements. (Practice Trends).: An article from: Internal Medicine News $5.95 This digital document is an article from Internal Medicine News, published by International Medical News Group on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 634 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.Citation D… |
