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Insecurity The Problem with Paper It is easy to forget that the paper prenatal record is typically accessed dozens of times by many individuals during a pregnancy, copied numerous times, passed from nurse to office staff to hospital clerk to hospital staff – all opportunities to view or even alter the record anonymously, without a trace. In this age of privacy and health information concerns, the current model of unbridled, anonymous access to sensitive health information in prenatal records is intolerable. HIPAA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy regulations will be enforced starting April of 2003. Health care organizations and practices now face the burden of compliance around the protection and disclosure of medical information. The manner in which paper prenatal records are lackadaisically managed today, whether in a private or academic practice environment, most certainly means that the way you, your staff, and the hospital interact and handle these records MUST change dramatically. According to the HIPAA regulations, prenatal records must be secure, and information in those records should only be viewed by those with a "need to know". Leaving paper prenatal records in unlocked cabinets at the office or hospital, faxing records to an unattended station, circulating multiple copies of the record between your office and the hospital with the opportunity for anonymous access to sensitive information by any one of dozens of people involved in the transit, will be IN VIOLATION of HIPAA. Security Because protection of their healthcare information is a top priority for your patients, eNATAL has balanced the need for privacy/security with access. eNATAL can place your organization's prenatal record management in IMMEDIATE compliance with the new HIPAA regulations. At the same time, eNATAL will allow authorized eNATAL users universal and role-based access to the prenatal record and can help your organization deliver consistent care to all of your pregnant patients. The eNATAL application includes the following technologies to ensure your patient’s privacy and the security of their clinical information. User ID and password required for access Comprehensive audit trails of user activities Role-based access and viewing privileges Digital certificate technology SSL data encryption over the Internet No patient information stored on the desktop computer Daily backup of patient information Patient-identifying information encrypted in database Personal/Demographic information not released to third parties