Risks of Digital Communication

The risks of digital communication

With so many ways to communicate these days, we want to share information in the ways that work best for you — including digital communications like our member portal, phone calls, text messages, email, and voicemail.  

We do our best to keep all types of messages and conversations safe and confidential, but digital communications still have risks.

What are the risks of using digital communications with Affordable Health Insurance Agency?

With digital communications, there’s always a risk that people could get access who weren’t supposed to. We try to prevent this, but here are some ways it can happen:

• People or companies can accidentally send digital communications to the wrong phone number or email address. 
• Someone could send and forward digital communications to people who aren’t supposed to see them — including to large groups or email lists. They may be able to change the communications and share versions that aren’t accurate. 
• Someone could steal copies of digital communications. Even if they’ve been deleted, there might be backup copies that could get into the wrong hands. 
• If digital communications get into the wrong hands, they could be used for illegal activities — like sending fraudulent (fake) claims to Medicare or trying to trick you into sharing other personal information (like your Social Security number).

There are also rules that can give other people access to your digital communications in certain situations:

• Employers and service providers may have a right to look at messages sent using their systems — for example, if you use a messaging app, the app owner might be able to see your messages. 
• If you have to go to court, lawyers could ask the judge for access to your digital communications. If the judge says yes, the lawyers could see your digital communications and use them as evidence in a court case. 

Are the risks the same for all types of digital communications?

• Member portal and phone calls are lower risk. That’s because you have to confirm your identity to access the portal or give information to us over the phone. There’s a chance that someone could access our secure system that stores recordings of phone calls and other personal information — but we have a good security system, so the risk is lower. 
• Texts, emails, and voicemails (and phone calls you record) are higher risk. We send these communications to your phone or computer — outside our secure systems. That means there are more ways for the information to get out, like if someone steals your phone or hacks into your email. 

What is Protected Health Information (PHI)?

Personally Identifiable Information (PII), as described in US privacy and information security law, is information that can be used on its own or with other information to identify, contact, or locate a single person, or to identify an individual in context.

When would you include my PHI in texts, emails, or voicemails?

We don’t include any PHI in emails, voicemails, or text messages unless you specifically ask us to. 

• For emails and voicemails: If you need PHI sent to your email or left on a voicemail, give us a call. 

What does Affordable Health Insurance Agency do to protect digital communications?

Like all insurance agencies, we’re required to have systems in place to keep your personal information private, including encryption (which turns digital communications into code that only people with permission can read) and training our employees on how to keep PHI safe. 

We do our best to keep digital communications secure. But because of the risks we discussed above, there’s no way for us to guarantee that it will always be safe.

Affordable Health Insurance Agency stores Member Communications electronically in our secure online systems. Affordable Health Insurance Agency is not liable for disclosures or breaches of confidential information caused by the client or any third party. Affordable Health Insurance Agency is not liable for improper disclosure of confidential information unless caused by Affordable Health Insurance Agency’s intentional gross misconduct. 

Our Commitment to Compliance

Affordable Health Insurance Agency would like you to know that we take compliance seriously.

As an organization, we’re guided by the highest standards of ethics and integrity in delivering our commitment to our clients. Our mission is to treat our clients like family. To be successful and achieve our mission and goals as a health insurance agency, we must create a culture of compliance and trust, and live and work by the highest ethical standards. Our Code of Conduct is our foundation in achieving this environment and complying with the laws, regulations, and ethical standards that govern our business. Our Medicare Compliance Program is designed to meet and build upon the requirements for an effective compliance program which includes measures to prevent, detect and correct issues of non-compliance and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA) in all lines of the business that we support.

We expect everyone to report potential non-compliance including employees, Issuers, and first-tier, downstream and related entities (FDRs). We’ve adopted and enforce a zero-tolerance policy for retaliation or intimidation against anyone who reports suspected misconduct. You may also choose to remain anonymous. If you are an FDR and you use your own code of conduct or compliance policies, you must include a process for reporting all compliance and FWA issues that impact Affordable Health Insurance Agency.

Please feel free to contact our Compliance Director with any questions related to potential non-compliance or FWA.

How to report compliance concerns

To report suspected or detected noncompliance or potential FWA, call our Compliance and FWA Hotline at 855-380-2442 or report online at compliance@ahiabenefits.com.