how secure is my patient portal

When used correctly, patient portals are secure and convenient for everyone involved. They’re much easier to manage than paper records, and the built-in secure messaging makes HIPAA compliance simpler than things like email.

Full Answer

What is a patient portal and is it safe?

A patient portal is a secure online website that gives patients convenient, 24-hour access to personal health information from anywhere with an Internet connection. Using a secure username and password, patients can view health information such as: Recent doctor visits. Discharge summaries.

How can I ensure my patient data is truly secure?

Implement user authentication to ensure your data is truly secure – For example, in some patient portals, after displaying one patient’s record, a different patient’s record could be displayed simply by editing the URL in the browser.

How do I access the patient portal?

Once there, click “Patient Portal” in the top right-hand corner of the homepage. You’ll be directed to the correct portal, either TOL or MHS GENESIS. Last Updated 7/27/2021

Are patient portals a risk to protected health information (PHI)?

That question is particularly germane to patient portals, which create an additional entry point and more risk to the security of protected health information (PHI). The laws and regulations in these cases can be confusing.

Can patient portals be hacked?

How do you keep patient portals secure?

Are patient portals confidential?

What are the disadvantages of a patient portal?

What are the security issues associated with engaging patients through an online patient portal?

What should be in a patient portal?

Is patient information protected through use of the patient portal or should it be?

What are the pros and cons of patient portals?

What are the benefits of patient portals?

Why do patients not use patient portals?

Should patients have access to their medical records?

Why do some patients fail to participate in the use of the patient portal?

What is a patient portal?

A patient portal is a secure online website that allows patients to access their Electronic Health Record from any device with an Internet connection. Many patient portals also allow patients to request prescription refills, schedule appointments, and securely message providers. With this increased access for patients comes the risk that someone other than the patient will gain unauthorized access to the portal, and to the patient’s electronic protected health information (ePHI).

What authentication methods do healthcare organizations use?

The vast majority of healthcare organizations reported that they continued to use traditional authentication methods such as username and password (93%), knowledge-based authentication questions and answers (39%), and email verification (38%). Notably, less than two-thirds reported using multifactor authentication. Multifactor authentication verifies a user’s identity in two or more ways, using: something the user knows (passwords, security questions); something the user has (mobile phone, hardware that generates authentication code); and/or something the user does or is (fingerprint, face ID, retina pattern).

How many patient records were breached in 2019?

2019 has seen record numbers of patient records being breached. Halfway through 2019, around 25 million patient records have been breached, eclipsing the number of patient records breached in all of 2018 by over 66%. In this environment where hackers find patient records a valuable commodity on the black market, healthcare organizations are must balance patients’ desire for ease of use with the duty to prevent unauthorized access to patient records. To learn more about how healthcare organizations are meeting this challenge, LexisNexis® Risk Solutions in collaboration with the Information Security Media Group conducted a survey in spring 2019 asking healthcare organizations about their cybersecurity strategies and patient identity management practices. The results of the survey, which included responses from more than 100 healthcare organizations, including hospitals and physician group practices, were recently published in a report, “ The State of Patient Identity Management ” (the “report”).

Is HIPAA required for healthcare?

Healthcare organizations are not required to adopt any one cybersecurity framework or authentication method under HIPAA, however increasing cybersecurity and implementing multifactor authentication for access to patient portals certainly helps with compliance under the HIPAA Security Rule. Failure to implement reasonable and appropriate cybersecurity measures could not only lead to a healthcare data breach, but it could also result in a covered entity or business associate being fined by the HHS Office for Civil Rights.

Does HIPAA require multifactor authentication?

While the HIPAA Security Rule does not require multifactor authentication, it does require covered entities and business associates to use security measures that reasonably and appropriately implement the HIPAA Security Rule standards and implementation specifications. Generally, the HIPAA Security Rule requires covered entities and business associates to (1) ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all ePHI the covered entity or business associate creates, receives, maintains, or transmits, (2) protect against any reasonably anticipated threats or hazards to the security or integrity of such information, and (3) protect against any reasonably anticipated uses or disclosures of such information that are not permitted or required. The Person or Entity Authentication standard of the HIPAA Security Rule requires that covered entities and business associates implement procedures to verify that a person or entity seeking access to ePHI is the one claimed. However, this standard has no implementation specifications. It is also worth mentioning that under the HIPAA Privacy Rule prior to a permissible disclosure, a covered entity must verify the identity of person requesting ePHI and their authority to have access to that ePHI, if either the identity or authority is not known to the covered entity. In addition, the covered entity must obtain “documentation, statements, or representations” from the person requesting the ePHI when such is a condition of the disclosure.

What are the features required for patient portal security?

Here we look at what features are required for patient portal security, and the protection and confidentiality of collected health information. Encrypted database features. En cryption allows data to be securely transmitted or stored, meaning that it is readable only by authorized persons by converting ...

How often should a patient portal be password protected?

Your HIPAA patient portal should require a password to access the system, and again if there is a period of inactivity of 30 minutes. If a password is entered incorrectly too many times, it should lock user accounts. Ensure that all employees (users) passwords are following NIST recommendations and are reset every 60 to 90 days. A more robust validation can be applied with multi-factor authentication. Bridge Patient Portal, for example, supports SMS-based two-factor authentication for password resets and account registration. The patient portal sends an SMS message to a mobile phone with a time-sensitive security code to complete the patient portal security registration or password reset. Keeping a secure password can be a complicated procedure, that is why some secure patient portals offer biometric authentication (fingerprint and facial recognition) to provide patients with a quick, secure, and frictionless experience when accessing health information.

What is a custom privacy policy?

You should have a custom Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions of Access, which outlines how your healthcare organization handles the privacy of personal information that you collect and how it operates on a day-to-day basis. If your healthcare organization does business within California, it’s essential that you also have a CCPA compliant patient portal.

Why are healthcare authorities implementing new laws?

Healthcare authorities are implementing new laws to boost interoperability within healthcare organizations and give patients more control and access to their personal health information. With this newfound sharing model, healthcare organizations and IT vendors must implement stricter patient portal security measures to protect valuable patient ...

How to regulate who has access to specific information?

Regulate who has access to specific information based on the role of each employee or user within the organization. For example, administrative staff may not need to see the same information and data as nursing staff. Consider what information each employee needs and grant access to the specific areas as required.

Who is Blake from Bridge Patient Portal?

Blake joined Bridge Patient Portal in 2016 after transferring from our parent company Medical Web Experts. Since then, he’s acted as Bridge’s Business Development Manager. Blake is passionate about driving collaboration with clients, partners, and internal teams to achieve performance goals and successful relationships.

Is a patient's credit card information stored?

PCI Compliance. HIPAA compliant bill pay requires that patient credit card details should not be transmitted or stored unless your clinic complies with PCI Security Council Standards, which keeps the patient’s payment card data secure.

What is a secure patient portal?

The Secure Patient Portal is a secure system designed to help you manage your individual or family health care online. Using these online systems, you can:

What is a TOL portal?

The TOL Patient Portal (also referred to as "TRICARE Online" or "TOL") is the current secure patient portal that gives registered users access to online health care information and services at military hospitals and clinics.

What happens if you move back to a non-MHS location?

If you move back to a non-MHS GENESIS location, you’ll resume use of the TOL Secure Patient Portal for all secure actions (appointing, viewing health data, prescription refills, secure messaging).

Can you see your health records in MHS?

As soon as your record is created, you’ll be able to see your health data in MHS GENESIS.

How do I use a Patient Portal?

If your provider offers a patient portal, you will need a computer and internet connection to use it. Follow the instructions to register for an account. Once you are in your patient portal, you can click the links to perform basic tasks. You can also communicate with your provider's office in the message center.

What are the benefits of a patient portal?

Expand Section. With a patient portal: You can access your secure personal health information and be in touch with your provider's office 24 hours a day . You do not need to wait for office hours or returned phone calls to have basic issues resolved. You can access all of your personal health information from all ...

How much does an e-visit cost?

For minor issues, such as a small wound or rash, you can get diagnosis and treatment options online. This saves you a trip to the provider's office. E-visits cost around $30.

How old do you have to be to get access to your child's portal?

If you have a child under age 18 years, you may be given access to your child's patient portal, too.

Can you access all of your health information?

You can access all of your personal health information from all of your providers in one place. If you have a team of providers, or see specialists regularly, they can all post results and reminders in a portal. Providers can see what other treatments and advice you are getting. This can lead to better care and better management of your medicines.

What is portal in healthcare?

Portals give patients convenient access to health information using their personal devices, however these tools can open the doors to criminals who steal—and profit from—sensitive data.

How much has AdvantageCare reduced patient volume?

AdvantageCare Physicians has reduced overall patient volume to its IT help desk by 25 percent. With password reset issues, that volume has decreased by 75 percent.

Why are patient portals important?

Patient portals provide an opportunity for healthcare providers to offer patients that individual experience and to support their efforts at managing their own care, enabled by automation and empowered by the availability of data. If providers can secure PHI and provide the confidence consumers and providers need, patient portals will become a useful tool for healthcare transformation.

Why are portals important for healthcare?

While patient portals add risk, they also confer many benefits to healthcare organizations, including enhanced patient-provider communication and empowerment of patients. Some studies have found that portals can also enable better outcomes for patients. These benefits are behind the HIPAA privacy rule’s “right of access,” which allows individuals to examine and obtain a copy of their PHI. Meaningful use requirements also require eligible professionals to exchange secure emails with at least 5 percent of their unique patients. Since portals are an ideal way to meet this requirement, organizations seeking to comply with Stage 2 criteria have an incentive to adopt them.

Why is PHI encrypted?

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to date have related to the theft or loss of unencrypted mobile devices, encrypting the data is a primary defense against data loss and against the consequences of improper disclosure.

How can a company be a successful player in the healthcare arena?

A recent blog by Dan Munro claims that, “To be a successful player in the healthcare arena, a company needs to be in the ‘behavioral change’ business. Boosting adherence, bending the cost curve and shifting from treatment to prevention will require dramatic shifts in patient behavior. Customizing the individual experience is key to improved outcomes.”

How to ensure your data is secure?

Implement user authentication to ensure your data is truly secure – For example, in some patient portals, after displaying one patient’s record, a different patient’s record could be displayed simply by editing the URL in the browser.

What is the importance of a comprehensive security program?

Beyond encryption, organizations need to have a comprehensive security program that, in addition to addressing the required elements in HIPAA and meaningful use, includes a solid understanding of the organization’s data security risks and contingency plans in case of a breach.

What should be included in portals?

Enable portals that have integrated security features – This should include user authentication, role-based authorization and single sign-on capabilities.