Healthcare Fax Cover Sheet
A healthcare fax cover sheet is an important piece of document. Moreover, it's not just a decorative piece of paper. It contains crucial information that is necessary for the easy transfer of important documents.
Some government departments offer an official fax cover sheet that needs to be sent along with other documents.
The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act of 2009 was promoting the use of Information Technology to store and share medical documents. It also modified the rules and penalties regulated by Health Insurance Portability and Accountability (HIPAA) Act.
The HIPAA act does not specifically require the use of a cover sheet. But not using one can lead to the violation of other rules.
A healthcare fax cover sheet can be made a HIPAA-compliant Fax Cover Sheet. For that, it should contain a disclaimer indicating that the documents contain Protected Health Information or PHI/ePHI. PHI is an individual's health information. And an ePHI is digitally stored PHI. And, to be specific if it contains one of the 18 listed identifiers.
The cover sheet should also contain a warning if the document is sent accidentally sent in the wrong hands. So, any person who gets hold of such documents or information is legally responsible for its disclosure.
Listed here are a few things that are important to include in a fax cover sheet:
- Date
- Organization’s Name
- Sender’s Name, Fax Number, Phone Number
- Receiver’s Name, Fax Number, Phone Number
- Number of pages sent (Including the cover page)
- Confidentiality Notice
- Notice for disclosure and damages
Furthermore, here is a sample confidentiality notice:
This facsimile contains confidential information intended for the addressed person. You should not distribute or destruct any of the documents. And in case you have received the fax by mistake, you should return it to the address provided. If you disclose or use the information contained within these documents for profit, you will face legal action.
Most industries do not use fax services. But they are still in use in some workplaces such as healthcare.
You can either use a fax machine or choose an online fax service. Some online services let you send a limited number of free faxes on a daily or monthly basis.
Someone can hack your email. Or they can get hold of the cloud documents. But using fax to send and receive the documents is comparatively secure.
Furthermore, you should not take part in any of the actions mentioned below:
- Disclosure or Wrongful access to PHI
- Acquiring PHI using a false claim
- Utilizing PHI for profit
In conclusion, a healthcare fax cover sheet is a crucial piece of document. It helps protect the important medical reports of the patients.
