PHIPA Compliant Fax for Ontario Healthcare
Protect Personal Health Information. Service Agreement Included.
Healthcare organizations in Ontario rely on fax every day to share patient records, referrals, and prescriptions. Under PHIPA, the Personal Health Information Protection Act, that information must be protected at every step. Fax.Plus is a secure online fax service that supports PHIPA compliant faxing, with encryption in transit and at rest, role-based access controls, and a complete audit trail for every fax your team sends and receives.
Why Secure Faxing Matters Under PHIPA
Fax remains the default channel for referrals, lab results, and prescriptions across Ontario healthcare. But traditional fax machines leave printed personal health information sitting in open trays, offer no access control, and no reliable record of who sent what to whom. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has repeatedly identified misdirected faxes as one of the leading causes of health privacy breaches in the province.
A PHIPA compliant fax service closes those gaps: documents are transmitted encrypted, delivered to authorized inboxes instead of shared machines, and every transmission is logged with delivery confirmation.
Security Features Built for PHIPA Compliant Faxing
- Encryption everywhere: AES-256 at rest, TLS in transit. Every fax with personal health information is encrypted end to end across web, mobile, and API.
- Access controls and authentication: role-based access, two-factor authentication, SSO, and per-user fax numbers so only authorized staff handle patient information.
- Audit trails and activity logs: a complete, searchable record of every fax sent and received, with timestamps and delivery confirmations, ready for privacy reviews.
- Secure storage and retention controls: encrypted archive with configurable retention, so you keep records as long as your policies require and no longer.
- Team management and permissions: centralized admin dashboard, managerial hierarchies, fax quotas, and activity oversight for clinics and multi-site organizations.
- Canadian data residency: choose to store your live data and backup data in Canada, with Toronto and Montreal regions available, so personal health information stays close to home.
How Fax.Plus Supports PHIPA Compliant Faxing
Fax from anywhere
Send and receive secure faxes from web, desktop, or mobile. No fax machine needed.
Healthcare Ready
Shared and individual numbers, simple workflows, and delivery in seconds even at high volume.
Centralized management
Onboard staff, assign roles, and enforce 2FA, with your PHIPA status visible at a glance.
Confirmed delivery
Real-time delivery confirmations and searchable history. No one asks if the fax arrived.
PHIPA Email-to-Fax
Need to fax straight from your inbox while staying compliant?
PHIPA accounts send email-to-fax through a dedicated, TLS-enforced address: [faxnumber]@tls.fax.plus.
It is available on the Enterprise plan with Advanced Security Controls and a signed PHIPA Service Agreement.
The standard @fax.plus address stays for all other accounts.
How to Become PHIPA Compliant on Fax.Plus
Go Enterprise Plan
Create your Fax.Plus account and upgrade to the Enterprise plan in minutes.
Secure Account
Turn on Advanced Security Controls to enforce stricter account policies.
Request Agreement
Request the PHIPA Service Agreement from your compliance settings panel.
Sign and Start Faxing
Sign the agreement and your account is marked PHIPA compliant.
Best Practices for PHIPA Compliant Faxing
A secure fax service does most of the work, but good habits keep your organization protected. Here is what we recommend:
- Verify recipient fax numbers before sending, and use saved contacts to prevent misdirected faxes.
- Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication for every user.
- Limit access to personal health information to authorized staff through roles and permissions.
- Review your retention settings and delete documents you no longer need.
- Train staff on handling personal health information and include a confidentiality cover sheet
Built for Ontario Healthcare Providers
Fax.Plus supports PHIPA compliant faxing for medical clinics and family practices, dental offices, pharmacies, labs and diagnostic centres, hospitals, and healthcare administrators across Ontario. If your organization handles personal health information, Fax.Plus helps you share it securely.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is online faxing PHIPA compliant?
Yes, online faxing can support PHIPA compliance when the right safeguards are in place: encryption in transit and at rest, user authentication and access controls, audit trails, and delivery confirmation. Fax.Plus provides all of these, so Ontario healthcare organizations can send and receive personal health information securely.
Does PHIPA allow faxing personal health information?
Yes. PHIPA does not prohibit faxing personal health information. It requires health information custodians to take reasonable steps to protect it against theft, loss, and unauthorized access. A secure online fax service with encryption, access controls, and audit trails helps meet that standard.
What features should a PHIPA compliant fax service have?
A PHIPA compliant fax service should provide encryption in transit and at rest, user authentication with role-based access, complete audit trails, delivery confirmations, and secure storage with retention controls. Fax.Plus includes all of these with Advanced Security Controls, plus a signed PHIPA Service Agreement.
Does PHIPA require fax data to be stored in Canada?
No. PHIPA does not prohibit storing personal health information outside Canada, but many Ontario organizations prefer to keep it at home. Fax.Plus offers Canadian data residency: you can store your live data and backup data in Toronto and Montreal, encrypted at rest and in transit.
What is the most common cause of fax-related privacy breaches in Ontario?
Misdirected faxes, meaning faxes sent to the wrong number. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has identified them as one of the leading causes of health privacy breaches. Fax.Plus reduces this risk with saved contacts, delivery confirmations, and a searchable record of every transmission.
Do I need a BAA for PHIPA compliance?
No. A Business Associate Agreement is a HIPAA requirement in the United States. Under PHIPA, Fax.Plus signs a PHIPA Service Agreement with your organization instead. You request it directly from your account settings, and once signed, your account is marked PHIPA compliant.
Which Fax.Plus plan supports PHIPA compliance?
The Enterprise plan. It includes Advanced Security Controls, the PHIPA Service Agreement, data residency options including Canadian regions, role-based access, two-factor authentication, full audit trails, and secure email to fax through the TLS-enforced @tls.fax.plus address.
Can I send a PHIPA compliant fax from email?
Yes. Compliant Fax.Plus accounts send email to fax through a dedicated, TLS-enforced address, [faxnumber]@tls.fax.plus, so the message is encrypted in transit before it reaches Fax.Plus. This is available on the Enterprise plan with Advanced Security Controls.
Explore more secure faxing
Send healthcare documents securely, dig deeper into compliance, and connect faxing to the way your team works.
Healthcare documents
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Start Faxing Securely Under PHIPA
Keep patient information protected and your team efficient. Get started with Fax.Plus or schedule a demo and we will walk you through a PHIPA compliant faxing setup for your organization.
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