HITECH-Compliant Fax Service — Strengthened HIPAA Enforcement for Electronic Health Data
The HITECH Act strengthened HIPAA enforcement and extended requirements to business associates, including fax service providers handling PHI. Send FAX Mail meets both HIPAA and HITECH requirements.
HITECH Requirements for Fax
- Business associates directly liable for HIPAA compliance (not just covered entities)
- Breach notification requirements for unsecured PHI
- Strengthened encryption requirements for electronic PHI
- Increased civil and criminal penalties for violations
- Risk analysis requirements for electronic PHI
- Meaningful use requirements for electronic health records
How Send FAX Mail Meets HITECH
- Full compliance as a business associate under HITECH
- Breach notification procedures meeting the 60-day notification requirement
- 256-bit AES encryption exceeding HITECH requirements for securing ePHI
- Annual risk analysis of fax platform security
- BAA acknowledging direct liability under HITECH
- Employee security training program for handling PHI
Industries Affected
Starter
- 600 fax pages per month
- 1 dedicated fax number
- Send & receive faxes
- Fax to email delivery
- Fax history & downloads
- No per-page overage charges
Professional
- 2,000 fax pages per month
- 3 dedicated fax numbers
- HIPAA compliance + self-serve BAA
- Sign documents before sending
- Priority delivery
- No per-page overage charges
Business
- 5,000 fax pages per month
- 5 dedicated fax numbers
- HIPAA compliance + self-serve BAA
- Public API & webhooks
- Audit logs
- Team roles & permissions
- Priority support
Enterprise
- 8,000 fax pages per month
- 10 dedicated fax numbers
- Everything in Business
- Public API & signed webhooks
- Dedicated support
- Custom integrations
No per-page overage. No activation fees. No contracts. Cancel anytime.
What’s current · as of August 2026
- HIPAA large-breach reporting threshold
- 500+ individuals — reported to HHS OCR without unreasonable delay Source: HHS Office for Civil Rights
- HIPAA documentation retention period
- 6 years from creation or last-effective date Source: HHS — HIPAA Administrative Requirements (45 CFR 164.316)
Recent updates
Federal interoperability rules keep pushing healthcare past the fax machine
CMS has advanced a series of interoperability rules that press hospitals, payers, and providers toward electronic data exchange and standardized claims attachments. The direction of travel is clear: paper and analog fax workflows are being replaced by digital transmission that carries an auditable record — which is exactly what a cloud fax with delivery confirmation provides for offices not yet on a full EHR pipeline.
CMS →Federal agencies still write fax into new rules and notices
The Federal Register — the daily journal of U.S. federal rulemaking — regularly publishes rules and notices that reference fax as an accepted or required submission channel for filings with agencies like the IRS, SSA, and CMS. That is why fax remains a live requirement for many official forms even as electronic portals expand.
Federal Register →Healthcare breach reporting keeps document handling under scrutiny
Ongoing reporting on HIPAA breaches and OCR settlements underscores how much scrutiny falls on how medical documents are stored, sent, and received. Sending records through a controlled, access-logged channel rather than an unmanaged machine reduces the mishandling risks that show up repeatedly in breach analyses.
HIPAA Journal →
HITECH Fax Compliance — FAQ
HITECH (2009) strengthened HIPAA enforcement, made business associates (like fax services) directly liable for HIPAA compliance, and increased penalties. Your fax service must comply as a business associate.
HITECH extends HIPAA requirements directly to business associates (like Send FAX Mail), requires breach notification, and increases penalties. HIPAA sets the privacy and security rules; HITECH strengthens enforcement.
Under HITECH, business associates must notify covered entities of breaches within 60 days. Send FAX Mail has documented breach notification procedures meeting this requirement.
HITECH increased HIPAA penalties to up to $1.5 million per violation category per year. Criminal penalties include up to 10 years imprisonment for violations involving intent to sell PHI.
HITECH-compliant faxing starts at $39.99/mo
Encrypted transmission, audit logs, secure storage. No enterprise contract needed.
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