ZixCorp Offers New Solution to Strengthen HIPAA Compliance

Zix Corporation (ZixCorp), (NASDAQ: ZIXI), the leader in email encryption services, has launched ZixGatewaySM Inbound to provide healthcare organizations a proactive method of identifying unsecured protected health information (PHI) in email. This solution will provide organizations with an additional means of improving compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Using the same industry-proven, healthcare lexicons as the standard ZixGateway policy-based encryption solution for outbound email, ZixGateway Inbound identifies PHI contained in inbound email messages and attachments. If unprotected electronic PHI is detected, ZixGateway Inbound notifies the appropriate internal compliance and data security managers. ZixGateway Inbound provides daily reports logging the details of inbound vulnerabilities, so managers can take appropriate action with email senders.

In its first use, ZixGateway Inbound was successfully implemented with Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS). This new solution had an immediate positive impact on KRS’s risk management and compliance efforts.

“With ZixGateway Inbound, we scan all inbound email, identify potential vulnerabilities from business associates and proactively notify our members if their data has been exposed,” said Mike Burnside, KRS Executive Director. “We also use ZixGateway Inbound as a tool to work closely with our business partners and employers, educating them on the importance of secure communication. This is significant, because new HIPAA regulations extend to business associates.”

Recognizing most healthcare providers and health plans engage the services of outside business associates, the HIPAA Privacy Rule allows covered entities to disclose PHI to business associates who appropriately safeguard that information from misuse or breach. As defined under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, a business associate is “a person or organization, other than a member of a covered entity's workforce, that performs certain functions or activities on behalf of, or provides certain services to, a covered entity that involve the use or disclosure of individually identifiable health information.” The HITECH Act extended the HIPAA rules to apply to business associates, who are now held accountable for data breaches through civil and criminal penalties.

“With the increased demand for quality healthcare and operating efficiency, healthcare organizations have to leverage a variety of outside business services, from legal and billing services to EHR implementation. We understand the need to enable those relationships while simultaneously protecting patients and complying with federal regulations,” said Rick Spurr, ZixCorp’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Through ZixGateway Inbound, we can relieve some of the regulatory burden facing healthcare organizations by enabling them to see and take action on weak privacy and security links outside their organizations.”

About Zix Corporation

Zix Corporation (ZixCorp) provides the only email encryption service designed with your most important relationships in mind. More than 1,200 hospitals and 1,300 financial institutions, including the most influential companies and government organizations, use the proven ZixCorp® Email Encryption Service, including WellPoint, Humana and the SEC. ZixCorp Email Encryption Service is powered by ZixDirectorySM, the largest email encryption community in the world. The tens of millions of ZixDirectory members can feel secure knowing their most important relationships are protected. For more information, visit www.zixcorp.com.

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