How to help your patients access their EHR with health tech

It's no big surprise that patients want to be able to access their EHR on their own schedule. It's also not surprising that the majority of doctors want that for their patients as well as noted in a 2013 study by Accenture. Technology, especially health tech, is developing at a faster pace than ever, which should make it easier for patients to have access to their records. So why is it still so cumbersome for patients to get their EHR?

For most practices it comes down to compliance, HIPAA compliance in particular. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was designed to keep medical records private, and rightly so. But failing to properly secure records can result in steep fines, with a record $4.8 million in fines assessed in May earlier this year. It's easy to understand why so many practices would be cautious about sharing giving patients access to their records. But there's good news. Thankfully, these pain points are finally being addressed with new companies finding HIPAA compliant solutions for practices. Many enterprise solutions can unfortunately be burdensome to implement and expensive. Many cloud solutions are becoming HIPAA compliant which introduces a simpler and more cost effective way, like Paubox. Paubox also provides a solution for the simplest of all electronic communications - by seamlessly encrypting email so all records are delivered with 256-bit encryption at a very low cost. Just before Paubox's launch, The Lawyerist came up with a helpful list of cloud compliant solutions as well as some things to keep in mind when making a decision, like choosing a provider who will sign a  Business Associate Agreement like Paubox.