Secure File Sharing for Insurance and Health Care Professionals

Medical practices and insurance companies use file sharing to store, share, and protect important information in the cloud. Health care professionals are often handling extremely sensitive patient data. Choosing trustworthy, cloud-based, file-sharing services are critical. 

Depending on where you live, some file storage may not be eligible to store, share, or transfer Electronic protected health information (ePHI).

Understanding Data Protection Regulations:

PIPEDA - The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act is a Canadian law that governs how private sector institutions gather, use, and disclose personal information. 

HIPAA - The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a federal law in the United States that requires national standards to protect sensitive patient health information. 

GDPR - The General Data Protection Regulation is a regulation in the European Union that addresses personal data transfer. 

Not all cloud file storage is HIPAA, PIPEDA, or GDPR compliant. We’ve created a list of the top four compliant file-sharing tools for insurance and health care professionals.

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business is HIPAA compliant and GDPR compliant. Many healthcare providers and organizations prefer OneDrive to manage their documents safely, both offline and online. OneDrive also encrypts data when in transit and when at rest. Keep in mind Microsoft requires businesses to commit to a one-year minimum when they purchase the Office 365 Essentials package.

Box

Box is GDPR compliant and HIPPA compliant. This tool allows organizations to share large files safely. File sharing in Box uses multi-layered encryption for optimal protection. Another feature on Box is the large number of integrations the platform supports. This helps businesses update info across various applications, like Trello, Oracle Marketing Cloud, Adobe, Zendesk, RingCentral, Salesforce, and HootSuite - to name a few. The software is available for Mac and PC. The box is also mobile-friendly, but keep in mind there is no Linux support.

Hushmail

Hushmail is an encrypted web-based email service. Insurance and health care professionals often communicate sensitive information via email. Hushmail is GDPR, HIPAA, and PIPEDA compliant. They provide a secure, private, encrypted email service to individuals and businesses around the globe, making sending emails overseas safer and easier. Hushmail is compliant with the top three privacy laws that govern their customers’ personal data. Hushmail can convey authenticated, encrypted messages in both directions, making sharing, and receiving emails a breeze.

Sync

Sync is a HIPAA & GDPR compliant cloud and file storage service. They cater to personal users and small healthcare clinics or businesses. One great thing about them is that, unlike other services, HIPAA/ GDPR is available even for the free personal plan. Their plans for healthcare professionals are cost-friendly and ideal for smaller businesses. Some of the top features include multiple user support, password protected sharing, offline file support, end-to-end encryption, secure link generation for file sharing, activity logs and more. While some of their features are only available in the premium option, many agree it’s worth the price for the peace of mind.

Top 5 Must-Have Tools for Professional Journalists

Remember the time when the only tools a journalist needed were a pencil and a notepad? 

Capturing a story is challenging. Newshounds have to take into consideration multiple moving pieces before they can publish an article. Luckily, it’s not 1940 anymore, and today’s journalists have a slew of apps, tools, and sites that make the job easier. 

Whether you need a tool to help with brainstorming, security, organization, research, or visuals, here are five journalism tools you won’t want to be without.

1. Pocket

The Pocket App makes saving articles, videos, and content from other publications, web pages, and apps simple. Think of it as your personal reading list. If you don’t have time to read an article as soon as you come across it or watch a video clip, save it for later. Pocket is available on iOS and Android devices, plus the base app is free!

2. Trustwire

Part of being a journalist is sharing and receiving sensitive information online. Cyber threats are at an all-time high. Share documents securely with Trustwire. Trustwire allows a reporter or source to send and collect information safely, even in high-risk environments. All files shared via Trustwire are encrypted, meaning only the file owner and the rightful recipient will be able to see it.

3. Representation Matters

As a journalist, visuals are likely a huge part of your day job. You may be familiar with other stock image libraries like Pixabay, Shutterstock, or Pexels. While those are all great tools to source images, Representation Matters is an all-inclusive stock image library. They focus on diverse and inclusive photos with themes, including body positivity, disabilities, LGBT, and more.

4. Echosec

Echosec is a free online app that allows users to generate location-based social media data from the most popular social networks. If you work at a local level, this tool can help fill your pages or create website copy as you get info from events as they unfold in real-time. For example, Echosec allows users to concentrate on an area on a map where it will then provide you with a list of Tweets (or other social media posts) that have been made from that area. The free version offers Twitter data, but if you invest in the premium version, you get results from other platforms like Instagram and YouTube.

5. Hemingway

Part of being a great journalist is captivating an audience with words. The Hemingway App makes your writing bold and clear. This tool highlights common errors, complex sentences, and lengthy or hard-to-understand sentences in your typing. The text is color-coded to make things as simple as possible. If a sentence is highlighted in yellow, it’s too long, and if it has a red highlight, it’s too hard to read. Journalists can appeal to a broader audience with high-quality, user-friendly text. This online app is free, but a paid premium version is also available.