Legal Workspace Provides Heightened Security with the Release of its HIPAA Compliant Edition

Global News

14
Apr
2015

Editor

Legal Workspace, a leading provider of cloud-based work environments designed specifically for law firms, today announced the launch of the Legal Workspace HIPAA Compliant Edition.

The solution, the latest addition to the company’s product line which includes its secure standard edition (HCE), allows small and medium law firms, considered business associates by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Omnibus Final Rule, to meet the necessary security regulations by offering a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement.

HIPAA governs the use, disclosure and safeguarding of protected health information (PHI). The HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule, established in 2013, imposes requirements on covered entities to sign business associate agreements with their vendors that have access to PHI or maintain or transmit it. This includes law firms that handle insurance defense, personal injury and elder law or collection attorneys with access to PHI.  

With this solution, the Legal Workspace HIPAA Compliant Edition gives clients the required protection, policies and procedures on top of the enterprise security already offered by Legal Workspace’s standard edition. Legal Workspace specialists will work hand in hand with law firms to help them determine if the secure standard edition or the HIPPA Compliant Edition works best for their requirements and client base. 

“Given the nature of legal work, security is always a priority for attorneys,” said Joe Kelly, founder and CEO of Legal Workspace. “In the absence of established security standards for legal, complying with HIPAA - one of the most stringent government-mandated standards of security – allows Legal Workspace to offer an even higher level of protection for law firms and their privileged communications and documents. We’re the first legal-specific virtual workspace company to offer HIPAA compliance and we will continue to offer rigorous security options for both small and mid-sized law firms.” 

The Legal Workspace HIPAA Compliant Edition includes: 

• A HIPAA Business Associate Agreement that saves covered entities and business associates significant costs when undertaking their own HIPAA compliance assessments.
• A risk assessment summary document that makes it easy for a law firm to work with a third-party compliance company. 
• Legal Workspace staff have been extensively trained on HIPAA regulations
• Legal Workspace has passed a risk assessment and has the appropriate security policies in place to meet the HIPAA security rules. 
• The ability to meet all of the administrative, physical and technology requirements outlined by HIPAA.
• Legal Workspace can host practice management and document management applications in a HIPPA compliant environment.  This applies to Legal Workspace partners such as Thomson Reuters ProLaw®, Practice Master®, Needles®, Amicus Attorney®, Worldox® or Microsoft SharePoint.