HIPAA-Compliant Fax for Michigan Healthcare Providers
Clinics and hospitals across Michigan still move a large share of patient information by fax: referrals between physician groups, lab results, e-prescription backups, and prior authorization packets headed to payers. Because that traffic carries protected health information, the Michigan Department of Health and federal HIPAA rules both expect it to travel over a secure, documented channel.
Regulations & Compliance
Michigan providers answer to federal HIPAA on top of state health-information privacy law, with the Michigan Department of Health overseeing how patient records are handled and disclosed. The MI Board of Medical Examiners adds expectations around clinical recordkeeping, and the Michigan Hospital Association publishes guidance that member facilities follow for secure document exchange. For HIPAA workflows, our Business plan at $79.99/month includes a signed Business Associate Agreement.
Key Institutions
- • Michigan Department of Health
- • Michigan Medical Association
- • Michigan Hospital Association
- • MI Board of Medical Examiners
Healthcare Fax in Michigan — FAQ
Yes. Faxes move over TLS-encrypted connections and are stored with AES-256 encryption, which covers both the federal HIPAA standard and the state privacy expectations enforced by the Michigan Department of Health. Covered entities should use the Business plan at $79.99/month, which includes a signed Business Associate Agreement.
Referrals to specialists, lab and imaging orders, prescription and prior authorization requests, and signed patient consent forms make up the bulk of it. These are the workflows where a timestamped delivery confirmation matters, since the receiving lab, pharmacy, or payer expects proof the document arrived.
Paid plans start at $12.99/month, and selecting a fax number costs nothing extra. A solo provider in Lansing or Ann Arbor typically pays far less than the cost of a dedicated phone line and a physical machine, and a 7-day free trial lets a clinic try sending before subscribing. If a practice's referral volume outgrows its plan allowance, the next plan up adds the pages rather than charging per page.
No. Everything runs through email and the browser, so staff send a fax by attaching a PDF and receive incoming faxes as files. There is no machine to maintain and no analog line to keep paying for.
Why this matters
The HIPAA Security Rule requires technical safeguards to protect electronic protected health information when it is transmitted over a network.
Source: U.S. HHS — 45 CFR § 164.312(e)(1)HIPAA requires covered entities to obtain satisfactory assurances — typically a Business Associate Agreement — from vendors that handle protected health information on their behalf.
Source: U.S. HHS — 45 CFR § 164.308(b)As of 2021, most U.S. non-federal acute care hospitals still used mail or fax to exchange summary-of-care records with outside organizations — 69% to send and 78% to receive.
Source: ONC Data Brief No. 64 (Jan 2023), AHA Annual Survey IT SupplementStart faxing for healthcare in Michigan
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