A complete guide to HIPPA-compliant digital signature solution

Introduction: 

The pandemic’s consequences have left the healthcare sector in shambles. As a result, finding quicker and more efficient ways to execute time-consuming tasks is crucial now more than ever to free up staff time for patient care. So, what does using HIPAA-compliant tools to go digital look like?  

This blog will review the idea and use cases of a HIPAA-compliant eSignature. You will also discover how Certinal eSign enables healthcare businesses to sign documents in compliance with HIPAA.  

Streamline healthcare workflows with digital signatures  

We all know that there are a lot of manual and repetitive activities in the healthcare industry. While providing medical treatment, healthcare staff must juggle patient forms, physician credentialing, and compliance requirements. On the other side, before their visit, patients must complete numerous pages of paperwork.  

Going digital is a simple and effective method to improve patient and staff experience while speeding up and streamlining paperwork processes. To digitally improve medical forms like patient onboarding, lab reports, provider agreements, and policy updates, let’s look at HIPAA-compliant electronic signatures for healthcare.  

The demand for touchless patient experiences during the pandemic and the rise in telemedicine services have made HIPAA-compliant document signing and digitally processed papers essential for today’s healthcare enterprises. There is no need to print, sign, scan, or copy documents to obtain patient and physician signatures; instead, records may be quickly sent and signed on any device. This is effective, convenient, and economical.  

Integrating digital signature tools like Certinal with your Electronic Health Record (EHR) will enable you to speed up the patient intake and automate document workflows. For example, this will allow healthcare providers to create intake packets with fillable fields, send them securely to patients for signature, and store signed documents in their EHR. A safe, auditable healthcare eSignature solution that can easily connect to the systems and applications that healthcare and life science organizations already use and adore is now required due to the introduction of EHR.  

Understanding HIPPA – Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act  

Maintaining HIPAA compliance is essential and mandated by law. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a US federal law, was passed in 1996 and called for “the development of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.”  

Protected health information (PHI) refers to patient data, including private health information like demographics, medical history, lab results, and insurance details. Only HIPAA-covered entities can receive this data for healthcare services, administration, and payment. Software platforms must sign a Business Associate Agreement outlining and confirming their commitment to protecting PHI before being used by HIPAA-covered entities. Certinal eSign’s enhanced threat prevention keeps patient PHI secure and assures HIPAA compliance.  

With the help of Certinal’s HIPAA-compliant digital signature software, healthcare organizations can manage and streamline medical paperwork processes like patient intake and consent forms and packets for new hires while protecting patient data.  

Requirements for digital signature solutions under HIPPA  

Digital signature solutions are a terrific method to simplify paperwork procedures, whether protecting sensitive patient health information or satisfying physician signature requirements on medical documents. But first, covered entities like healthcare organizations must carefully select a PHI-protecting solution.  

To be utilized per HIPAA regulations, digital signature systems must fulfill the following requirements:  

• Legal Compliance – The document provided for signature must adhere to federal laws governing eSignatures, clearly describe the terms and the signatory’s intent, and give the signer the choice of receiving an emailed or printed copy of the signed document.  
• User authentication – There must be a way to confirm the identity of everyone who signs documents; examples include two-step verification, password security, or security questions.  
• Message Integrity – To prevent tampering with or to modify a signed document, security measures like encryption must be in place.   
• Non-Repudiation – To be admissible in court, there must be a time-stamped audit trail that includes the dates and times of the signings, the chain of custody, and the location.  
• Ownership and Control – For covered entities to store digital documents, all evidence of eSignatures must be in their possession.  

Benefits of onboarding a HIPPA-compliant digital signature solution  

Healthcare firms may become more efficient thanks to digital signatures by digitizing their document workflows and quickly capturing and storing patient data online. However, even when handling signature workflows cannot be done in person, as is frequently the case during the epidemic, it is crucial to keep them going. Certinal uses dual authentication, encryption that meets federal agency standards, and thorough Audit Trails to safeguard sensitive medical data.  

Certinal – HIPPA-compliant digital signature solution  

Certinal for healthcare is dedicated to safeguarding your data and assisting healthcare clients in adhering to regulatory obligations. Every medical document you fill up and sign on Certinal complies with HIPAA security requirements. Certinal eSign ensures secure storage and transmission of sensitive medical information through password protection, 256-bit encryption, and SOC 11 Type 2 certification. The court-admissible Audit Trail of Certinal tracks the signing date, time, and place and all document modifications. Additionally, Certinal ensures that all documents can only be digitally signed by those who can do so.  

Explore our feature – secure eMail, which prevents email forwarding to unauthorized signers.  

Book a demo and learn how Certinal for Healthcare can help you automate your paperwork to prioritize patient care.