Secure Email

Overview  |  FAQ
Inter-County is committed to protecting the privacy of our members' personal health information. Part of that commitment is complying with the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which requires us to take additional measures to protect personal information and to inform our members about those measures.

Inter-County health plans are administered by AmeriHealth Administrators, and plan members may receive communications from either entity.

To meet the requirements of HIPAA, Inter-County and AmeriHealth Administrators use software that secures outbound email containing protected health information (PHI) and has procedures to be followed internally and by external members, group customers, and business partners when sending or receiving a secure email. A secure email is altered (or “encrypted”) so that it is unintelligible to unauthorized parties. PHI is individually identifiable health information held or transmitted by a covered entity such as Inter-County or AmeriHealth Administrators.

We secure all outbound email containing PHI. Instead of receiving email directly to your inbox, you will receive a notification message that Inter-County or AmeriHealth Administrators has an email waiting for you on a secure server. A link will take you, via a secure browser, to that server, where you will receive instructions for opening the email.

Process for Retrieving Secure Emails

  • Member of the Inter-County or AmeriHealth Administrators workforce sends an email containing protected health information.
  • The email is saved on a secure server.
  • The addressee (member, broker, group administrator, or provider) receives the message saying the email is waiting for him or her. Then, the addressee retrieves the message from a secure server with instructions for opening the email.

While this process requires some extra steps, we are making every effort to ensure that there is no significant disruption to your communications with us. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us safeguard PHI.

Important information about links to other sites