HIPAA News

HIPAA Compliant Print Manager Plus Release Station 2008 Unveiled

(Dec 20, 2007)--Software Shelf International today announced the launch of Print Manager Plus Release Station 2008 which helps protect the physical privacy and confidentiality of printed documents within the health care industry. The software aids compliance with Health Insurance Portability, the Accountability Act (HIPAA), European Data Protection Rules and other Data Protection legislation designed to protect individuals' rights to privacy and confidentiality. The product is an add-on to Software Shelf's market-leading print management tool, Print Manager Plus.

The software is intended for use by hospitals, clinics, health care providers, health care plans, Medicare and Medicaid programs, health care clearing houses, billing services, community health information systems and IT shops supporting these organizations who must satisfy the privacy and security rules issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and similar agencies worldwide dedicated to patient privacy and confidentiality of printed information. Penalties for violation of patient privacy can be severe.

Release Station 2008 makes it easy for users and handlers of confidential information to print out whatever they need without the risk of it being seen by anyone unauthorized to do so, even when printed from a workstation distant from the printers themselves. Release Station 2008's key security feature requires that the release of the job can only take place when the user (or his authorized agent) - physically present at the printer - has entered his Active Directory or other user name and secure password. Only then will the confidential document print itself out. Consequently, this feature also prevents stacks of wasted paper sitting at the printer at the end of the day.

Once the product is installed, it operates as a native extension to Windows. Its ease of use has made it the most functional and cost-effective print management, print control and print security software on the market today in terms of technical stability, quality and cost.

"The usual way of working is that documents are created through a third party application or by dictation: users can create hundreds of such documents a day. When these need to be printed, HIPAA regulations necessitate that the user disrupt his or her workflow to retrieve each document, one by one. The reality is that many print-outs sit in the output tray of a printer (in an insecure state) for hours before they are actually retrieved. As well as a security risk, this way of working can also cause substantial loss of productivity. Release Station 2008 is the solution to both of these problems,- says Diana Shields, Corporate Manager, SSI.

The product meets the needs of any sized provider organization and it not only addresses HIPAA requirements and similar Data Protection rule provisions, but it also maximizes allowable cost recovery, controlling access to color output and preventing wastage of materials, costs and staff time.

Print Manager Plus features include a complete print audit and print accounting trail for every print job with hundreds of reports available on print usage by user, group, department and costs, as well as the ability to set numerous kinds of print restrictions for nearly every print control scenario imaginable.

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