HIPAA-Compliant Fax for New York Healthcare Providers
New York hospitals run on fax volume that few other states match. NewYork-Presbyterian, Mount Sinai, and Northwell Health push thousands of referrals, lab orders, and prior authorizations through fax every day, and so do the independent practices that send to them.
Regulations & Compliance
New York providers carry obligations beyond federal HIPAA. Public Health Law Article 27-F sets strict rules for HIV-related information, the Mental Hygiene Law governs behavioral health records, and the SHIELD Act broadened data security duties for any business holding New Yorkers' private information. The State Department of Health and the Office of Mental Health enforce recordkeeping and privacy standards on top of the federal baseline, which is why encrypted transmission and a signed BAA matter for any fax carrying patient data in New York.
Key Institutions
- • NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
- • New York State Department of Health
- • New York State Medical Society
- • Northwell Health
Healthcare Fax in New York — FAQ
Yes. Transmissions use TLS and stored faxes are encrypted with AES-256, and a Business Associate Agreement is available for covered entities. That combination addresses HIPAA along with New York's Article 27-F, Mental Hygiene Law, and SHIELD Act requirements enforced by the Department of Health and the Office of Mental Health.
The Business plan at $79.99 a month is the HIPAA tier and is the right starting point for offices handling protected health information. Larger systems like Northwell or Mount Sinai can move to higher-volume plans, while a solo provider can begin at $12.99 a month.
Physician referrals, lab and imaging orders, prescription and prior authorization requests, and signed patient consent forms make up the bulk of it. Fax stays a recognized transmission method in New York because each send leaves a documented delivery trail.
On the Business and Enterprise tiers, inbound fax PDFs are never attached to email. You receive a notification and download the document inside your authenticated dashboard, which keeps protected health information out of your inbox.
There are no per-page charges. If a busy stretch of referrals and prior authorizations pushes you past your plan's monthly page allowance, you move up to a higher tier rather than accruing per-page charges, so a growing practice always knows its cost in advance. You can also start on a 7-day free trial with no card to gauge your volume first.
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 New York
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