In a move to strengthen patient privacy and data security, HIPAA regulations now emphasize that protected health information (PHI) must be stored within the United States. This requirement applies to both physical and electronic formats, including cloud-based systems used by healthcare providers and their business associates.

The updated guidance aims to reduce risks associated with cross-border data transfers, which can expose sensitive health information to foreign jurisdictions and cybersecurity threats. Organizations handling PHI are urged to verify that their data storage solutions—especially third-party vendors—maintain infrastructure exclusively within U.S. borders to remain compliant.

Failure to meet these standards may result in significant penalties, making domestic data residency a critical component of HIPAA compliance strategies.

eBridge, Inc. is proud to support this standard by storing 100% of customer data within the United States, ensuring full alignment with HIPAA’s data residency requirements.

eBridge is proud to reaffirm its HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance, marking our thirteenth straight year of successful certification. This year’s validation, completed through an in‑depth audit by 360 Advanced, P.A., a nationally accredited CPA firm, highlights our ongoing commitment to safeguarding your information and delivering secure, reliable service.

In an era of rising cyber threats, experts are urging individuals and businesses to adopt 2-factor authentication (2FA) to safeguard their digital accounts. This security measure requires users to verify their identity using two distinct methods—typically a password and a one-time code sent to a mobile device or an email—making it significantly harder for hackers to gain unauthorized access.

Recent data breaches have highlighted the vulnerability of password-only systems. With 2FA, even if a password is compromised, attackers still need access to the second factor, which is often device-specific and time-sensitive.

Cybersecurity professionals emphasize that enabling 2FA is one of the simplest yet most effective ways to protect sensitive information, from email and banking to social media and cloud storage. As digital threats evolve, layered security is no longer optional—it's essential.

eBridge, Inc. is committed to safeguarding user data with robust security measures, including support for two-factor authentication (2FA).

Since 2002, eBridge has maintained a strong partnership with HBMA, consistently sponsoring and participating in their annual conferences. From the start, we've delivered a secure and user-friendly hosted document management solution tailored to the needs of medical billing professionals. This year, we were honored to continue that tradition as a sponsor, reinforcing our commitment to the HBMA community.

The HBMA is a leading non-profit trade group representing the U.S. revenue cycle management (RCM) industry. Founded in 1993, HBMA supports education, advocacy, and networking for professionals in healthcare billing and RCM services. Its membership spans nearly 300 firms and over 47,000 employees, ranging from large billing companies to small and mid-sized businesses. HBMA is recognized by both insurers and government agencies as an authority in RCM, with many members also offering consulting, EMR, and practice management services.

eBridge attended its 4th NCPC conference in September. The NC Providers Council was organized to promote the overall improvement of both the quality of and access to community support services for individuals who require support to live in the communities across North Carolina.

In April, eBridge participated in its second SPADD conference. SPADD—the Statewide Planning and Development Disability group—is a collaborative network of community-based organizations dedicated to supporting individuals with disabilities. With a mission to enhance services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Georgia, SPADD fosters inclusion, advocacy, and innovation in the disability services landscape.

In March, eBridge attended the SCHSPA Annual Conference, its 7th year as a vendor. SCHSPA represents a statewide network of 53 providers dedicated to serving over 31,000 individuals with disabilities.

For more than a decade, eBridge has partnered with dozens of human service agencies to streamline their document management. By digitizing HR, Finance, and Resident files into secure online filing cabinets, these organizations gain 24/7/365 access to critical records — improving efficiency and enhancing care.

We're pleased to share that eBridge has once again earned HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance, marking our twelfth consecutive year of successful certification. This achievement follows a thorough audit by 360 Advanced, P.A., a nationally accredited CPA firm, and reflects our continued dedication to protecting your data and delivering secure, dependable service.

Since 2002, eBridge has been a dedicated partner and sponsor of the HBMA's annual conferences. Our core mission has remained the same: delivering a secure, easy-to-use document management solution specifically designed for medical billing professionals. Our sponsorship this year reaffirms our dedication to this vital community.

The HBMA is the premier non-profit trade organization for the U.S. Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) sector. Founded in 1993, it supports thousands of professionals across almost 300 member firms—encompassing large, mid-sized, and small businesses—through education, advocacy, and networking. Because of its expertise, the HBMA is a trusted source for insurers and government bodies regarding RCM standards, often including consulting and EMR/practice management services among its members' offerings.

We’re excited to share that eBridge has once again passed a rigorous security audit conducted by 360 Advanced, P.A., a nationally accredited, multi-service CPA firm. For the eleventh consecutive year, we’ve earned certification as a HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant organization — a reflection of our ongoing commitment to protecting your data and delivering secure, reliable service.

At eBridge, we know our clients depend on us to safeguard sensitive information and maintain the highest standards of privacy and performance. This certification isn’t just a milestone — it’s a promise that we’re continuously investing in the systems, policies, and practices that keep your business protected.

eBridge continues its significant commitment to the healthcare industry, marking more than twenty years of active partnership and sponsorship with the Healthcare Business Management Association (HBMA). Since 2002, eBridge has specialized in providing medical billing professionals with a secure, cloud-based document management solution critical for operational efficiency and regulatory adherence. This year's renewal of sponsorship for HBMA’s annual conference highlights eBridge’s dedication to advancing innovation within the Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) sector.

The HBMA, a nationally recognized non-profit founded in 1993, serves as the authoritative voice for the U.S. RCM community, representing nearly 300 member organizations and over 47,000 industry professionals who provide essential services including billing, consulting, and EMR support.

eBridge proudly participated in the North Carolina Providers Council (NCPC) Conference this September, continuing its commitment to supporting community-based care initiatives throughout North Carolina. The event, hosted by the NCPC, brings together professionals and organizations dedicated to improving access to high-quality support services for individuals living in communities across the state.

The North Carolina Providers Council was founded to promote the advancement of community support services, ensuring that individuals who rely on these resources can live independently and with dignity. Through advocacy, collaboration, and education, NCPC plays a vital role in shaping the future of care delivery in North Carolina.

In March, eBridge proudly participated in the South Carolina Human Service Providers Association (SCHSPA) Annual Conference. SCHSPA represents a statewide network of provider organizations committed to delivering essential services to more than 30,000 individuals with disabilities across South Carolina.

eBridge has partnered with human service agencies to modernize and simplify their document management processes. By converting HR, Finance, and Resident records into secure, cloud-based filing cabinets, these organizations gain around-the-clock access to vital documents—boosting operational efficiency and enabling more responsive, person-centered care.

eBridge is proud to announce its tenth consecutive year of successful completion of a comprehensive security audit conducted by 360 Advanced, P.A., a nationally accredited, multi-service CPA firm. This achievement certifies eBridge as HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant, reaffirming our steadfast commitment to maintaining the highest standards of security, privacy, and reliability.

eBridge is proud to mark 20 years of collaboration with the Healthcare Business Management Association (HBMA), continuing its tradition of sponsorship and active participation in HBMA’s annual conferences. Since 2002, eBridge has delivered a secure, user-friendly hosted document management solution tailored to the unique needs of medical billing professionals.

This year, eBridge was honored to once again sponsor HBMA’s annual event, reinforcing its long-standing commitment to the revenue cycle management (RCM) community. The partnership reflects eBridge’s dedication to supporting innovation, efficiency, and excellence in healthcare billing.

HBMA, founded in 1993, is a leading non-profit trade association representing the U.S. RCM industry. The organization is widely recognized by insurers and government agencies as an authoritative voice in RCM, with many members also offering consulting, electronic medical records (EMR), and practice management services.

eBridge proudly announces its ninth consecutive year of successful completion of a rigorous security audit conducted by 360 Advanced, P.A., a nationally recognized, multi-service CPA firm. This independent assessment reaffirms eBridge’s status as a HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant organization.

The certification underscores eBridge’s unwavering commitment to data security, privacy, and operational integrity. By meeting the stringent standards set forth in HIPAA and SOC 2 frameworks, eBridge continues to demonstrate its dedication to safeguarding sensitive information and maintaining the trust of its clients and partners.

For the eighth consecutive year, eBridge has successfully completed a comprehensive security audit conducted by 360 Advanced, P.A.—a nationally recognized, multi-service CPA firm. As a result, eBridge has once again earned HIPAA and SOC 2 compliance certification, reinforcing our unwavering commitment to security and reliability.

The year 2020 has presented challenges that very few, if any, have ever had to contend with. At times it feels like the world we live in has been turned upside down. Businesses have been forced to rethink their work structures and many have sent all or part of their workforce home to work remotely just to stay alive. The need for the ability to share and access documents from wherever employees are located has never been more crucial.

eBridge has been providing users web-based anytime, anywhere access to their vital business documents for over 18 years. This gave our clients a hedge against the uncertainty that many other companies faced when physical workplaces were forced to shut down earlier this year due to Covid-19. They were already equipped to deploy at-home workers during the lockdown because their files were stored securely in the eBridge cloud all along.

As organizations began setting up their remote operations, our staff was kept busy helping users with setting up their scanners and configuring eBridge on their home PC’s. It was a hectic few months but it felt good to know that our clients would not need to cease operations because of lack of access to their files.

The shutdown caused some to completely re-think their work spaces. Rather than leasing or purchasing more office space, many will keep at least a partial remote workforce in place even after the shutdown ends. Leveraging web-based document management software like eBridge, and meeting technology such as Zoom, can be the keys to success. There’s much less of a need for employees to gather in one place when affordable high tech tools like these are within reach.

eBridge is a fully web-based document management solution and our clients’ data is stored for the life of their account. OCR technology allows users to search the text on their files and retrieve patient records from within large batches, eliminating the need to manually flip through all pages of the batch to find the one record they need. We undergo a rigorous audit every year and are certified HIPAA and SOC2 compliant by a 3rd party auditing firm, giving our clients peace of mind that their PHI is securely stored.

Are you still unsure about going paperless? Are you storing electronic files locally on a server or PC hard drive? There are a lot of great reasons to consider document management and using a Cloud-based system to organize and keep your files safe and secure.

If you are considering a move to a document management system, here are 10 reasons to get scanning.

1. Get Your Organization Ready for the Future
   Implementing digital document management increases efficiency within an organization. Inaddition to this, laws like Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) andHITECH for healthcare now legally require the meaningful use of health information technology. Document management can bring the organization more in line with current statutory requirements.
   
   
2. Gain Office Space
   Over the years, paper records can consume more and more of your valuable office real estate. Scanning your documents can free up office space to be used for more effective and practical purposes.
   
   
3. Better Data Security
   Document management systems can allow you to encrypt, password-protect, and store your files securely in the Cloud. Users can be assigned access to only specific documents or types of documents, and all activity can be tracked for auditing and security purposes.
   
   
4. Better Preservation of Information
   Many important historical documents require preservation for several years. Paper documents degrade every time they are handled, and climate can also affect how long the paper lasts. Scanning important files protects the vital information from physical deterioration and can sometimes enhance the legibility of old paper files.
   
   
5. Compliance With Regulations
   Privacy laws, including HIPAA, GLB, and FCRA, require businesses to keep control over private and protected information. Electronic records make it easier to maintain that control, protecting sensitive information and keeping the business compliant with applicable laws.
   
   
6. Easier Disaster Recovery
   Fire, flood, hurricanes, earthquakes, theft, and vandalism pose a very real threat to hard copy documents and electronic files stored locally on hard drives and servers. Scanned documents within a Cloud-based document management system are hosted in remote locations, with availability even when your office is not habitable.
   
   
7. Get More Time & Better Employee Collaboration
   An AIIM survey found it can takes an average of 37 minutes to find one paper file. Document management affords employees in different areas, even different cities and states, instant access to all records across the organization. Files can be retrieved without even leaving one’s desk.
   
   
8. Make Distribution More Efficient
   Using document management, in addition to email, will eliminate the time and cost involved with sending and receiving correspondence. The time needed to send and receive is greatly reduced, which will benefit the organization as well as their customers.
   
   
9. Go Green
   Although paper is recyclable, not using paper at all means it’s not needed. The energy needed for recycling is saved, and to top it off the ink and toner cartridges used for printing don’t end up in the landfill.
   
   
10. Save Money and Time
    One of the biggest benefits of going paperless is cost savings. Implementing document management can cut the costs of storage, materials for printing, copying, and postage and/or courier costs. The initial investment can pay for itself in very little time.

Over the years, businesses and organizations have accumulated mountains of paper, compelling them to store their files in file cabinets and file rooms, even off-site locations, to meet records retention requirements. This method of filing paper is costly and inefficient at best, and exposes the organization to liability in the event of fire, flood, theft, or a host of other disasters.

Thanks to technology, going paperless with an electronic Document Management System can help streamline your processes and secure your files, if implemented and maintained properly.

What is Document Management?
A document management system is software that helps your organization effectively index, store and easily retrieve its vast array of documents. With the right document management system, your organization can reduce costs, free up office space, improve service, and increase productivity. More importantly, it can help your organization comply with a growing number of regulatory requirements.

Keys to Effective Document Management

1. Document Naming Convention – Establish a consistent naming convention by utilizing drop-down lists where possible. Additionally, instituting a standard date format (i.e. MMDDYYYY or MM/DD/YYYY) and requiring users to enter the information accordingly, will help the users to find their files much more easily.
2. Index Structure Replaces Folder Structure– With folders, you must remember “where” you put your documents. Index values make it much easier to find the documents because they store the document based on what it is, rather than where it is located. A logical structure for categorizing documents is the best way to ensure that information can easily be retrieved. Some basic index fields are:
   1. Name
   2. Date
   3. Document Type
   4. Category/Description
   5. Notes
3. File Size and Format – Saving files in the proper size and format is vital to the ability to quickly search for information. Documents should be scanned in black and white at 200 to 300 dpi, in .PDF format for optimum OCR text search results.
4. Proper User Access and Permission – A document management system should include document access restrictions per user. This ensures that users can only access documents that they are authorized to view, based on their role.
5. Workflow – Setting up a workflow which follows a document’s progress from start to finish will streamline your processes, allowing users to know when they have work to do and managers to monitor the steps within workflows. It helps automate complicated processes and prevent documents from “falling through the cracks”.
6. Security – Because of a growing multitude of privacy laws, it is vitally important that the document management system meet the highest security standards:
   • Encryption
     • Data transfer: Transport Layer Security should be used for mutual authentication, data encryption, and data integrity.
     • Data storage:  Documents should be stored using complex encryption methods.
   • Redundancy
     • Data should be backed up in more than one location, in real time.
     • Encrypted data should be backed up to a secure, off-site location daily.
   • The Document Management company should also maintain the following:
     • Access and event monitoring.
     • Passwords stored salted/hashed.
     • Physical security.

Conclusion
In the end, the right system is the one that works for your business. Spending a bit of time and effort up front to establish best practices can save a great deal of time and frustration once your document management system is implemented.

Anyone who watches or reads the news knows that disaster can strike without warning. Having a plan is essential to bringing your organization back to fully operational quickly and with as little inconvenience to clients and employees as possible. Not sure where to start? The checklist below will help.

Example Checklist for Disaster Recovery Plans

-Identify who does what in the event of a disaster. Ensure that each assigned person knows what their role is, and what is expected of them in case of emergency.

-Have a backup “office”. If the office or facility is unavailable, are your employees equipped to work remotely? The backup does not need to be a physical office if they are.

-Determine equipment needs. If working with minimal staff, how many computers, phones, mobile phones, etc. are needed?

-Data Recovery. Data is most likely your organization's most valuable asset. How and where are you backing up your data? Is it on-site (paper or digital)? In the Cloud (ideal)?

-Make communication easy. How will you communicate with your staff? A list of mobile phone numbers for all staff members should be available, especially for mission-critical personnel.  

-Establish a hierarchy for communications during disaster. A point of contact with minimum 2 back-up staff should be made responsible for communicating with the entire staff.

-Protect your documents. If you still have paper files, you may consider going paperless. If you are paperless and store the files locally, at the very least a backup should be made regularly and stored somewhere safe. A secure, cloud-based document storage system would prevent loss of important documents.

-Know what you'll say to the outside world. Many organizations need to communicate with clients and members, media, and vendors in addition to their internal staff. Planning ahead and having a pre-written template will save stress and time during a crisis. Assign this duty to a pre-determined staff member who will be responsible for communicating with internal staff and external customers and vendors.

-Constantly reassess and test. New technology comes out so frequently that it is important to reevaluate your organization's disaster recovery plan regularly. The information contained in your plan is likely to become outdated within even just a few months. Part of your plan should be to outline a timeline for how often it is updated and the person or persons responsible for such updates.

Sadly it's not a question of "if" but "when" a disaster will strike. Having a solid plan that is communicated to your staff in advance is the best way to keep damages and recovery time to a minimum.

Since 2002, eBridge has been partnered with HBMA, sponsoring and attending their conferences each year. We have provided HBMA members a secure, simple hosted document management solution, ideal for medical billing professionals from the beginning. We're proud to continue this tradition as a Silver sponsor at this year's conference September 12-14th in Charlotte, North Carolina. Stop by our booth to see how eBridge can take your business into the digital age, giving you greater process efficiency, increased productivity, and improved workflow.

eBridge will attend for its first time a conference for SCHSP March 12th-14th, to discuss how our web-based document imaging solution can help the various boards save time, space, labor, and resources. The SCHSP consists of a network of providers who support individuals with intellectual, head and spinal cord injuries and autism throughout South Carolina. eBridge is excited to have the privilege of participating in this annual conference, and we hope this will be the beginning of a long-lasting affiliation.

For 10 of the 14 years it’s been held, eBridge has attended the annual Healthpac User Conference. This year we will again be attending the User Conference on February 22-24 in beautiful Savannah, Georgia. eBridge provides a cost-saving workflow and document management solution that will help your business grow, and the best part is that eBridge is fully integrated with Healthpac. We look forward to many years of collaboration and success together, and are thrilled to have developed a partnership with such a dedicated group. We are always delighted to meet new customers, and catch up with existing customers, so please be sure to stop by to say Hello.

For the fifth year in a row, eBridge has completed a rigorous security audit by a national, multi-service, licensed CPA firm 360 Advanced, P.A. eBridge has been certified a HIPAA and SOC2 compliant organization by the auditing firm, affirming our total commitment to security and reliability.

For the past ten years, eBridge has attended the annual Healthpac conference. Looking forward to keeping that tradition, we will be attending the annual Healthpac's User Conference on February 9th-11th in Savannah, Georgia. eBridge is fully integrated with Healthpac's practice management systems, providing a cost-saving document management solution that will help your business grow. We look forward to many years of success together, and are thrilled to have developed a partnership with such a dedicated group. Please stop by, as we are always happy to see new and existing customers.

eBridge has been partnered with HBMA, sponsoring and attending their annual conferences, since 2002. Since the beginning, simple, secure document management services have been provided to many of its members, improving their workflow and increasing productivity.

UMITA is an association of information technology professionals working to improve the technological connectedness of the United Methodist Church. Since 2006, eBridge has been providing secure document management solutions to many of the UMC conferences, and we look forward to doing so for many years to come.

Sixty local businesses made the cut as finalists for the Tampa Bay Business Journal's 2016 Best Places to Work Awards. eBridge placed in the top 15 for the “Nearly Big” category. The word used to best describe our workplace by the employees was “Fun”, and here is what some of the employees had to say:

“I have never worked for any company that goes above and behind to show how much their employees mean to them.

"The survey pretty much says it all. There are great people here who work hard and enjoy what they do! The leadership is comprised of leaders who know what they are doing and they make sure everyone is taken care of."

Use eBridge Workflow for greater process efficiency, expedited payments, and lower overhead. New workflow functionality allows you to automatically route files to individuals or groups to be worked. Users are notified automatically that they have new documents in their queue and administrators are able to monitor a document’s progress, start to finish.

eBridge has successfully completed a rigorous data and security management examination by a third-party compliance auditor, and has met the strict compliance requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Service Organization Control 2 (SOC2) process. The demanding, four-month assessment and final attestation was executed by 360 Advanced, P.A., a national, multi-service, licensed CPA firm. Completing HIPAA, SOC2, and other formal compliance examinations enhances our reputation for security, reliability and professionalism, and gives us a competitive advantage in an era where data breaches are becoming more frequent and costly.

eBridge's development team released an upgrade that has optimized user experience for the proprietary web-based eBridge Viewer by displaying images in their native format and enhancing delivery speed of images. All documents are not one size fits all, and the viewer now accomodates everything from business cards to blueprints. Additionally, the speed at which large batches of documents load into the viewer has been dramatically reduced so users can find what they are looking for quicker than ever before.

Heartbeat International's mission is to save lives globally by providing cardiovascular implantable devices and treatment to the needy people of the world. This year, eBridge is a proud sponsor for Heartbeat International's Annual Rockin' on the Green Golf Classic and is honored to contribute to this world class organization.

eBridge attended the annual Healthpac User's Meeting on March 5th - March 7th 2015 in Savannah, Georgia. eBridge is a gold sponsor for Healthpac and we are thrilled to have developed a partnership with such a dedicated group. eBridge has been attending Healthpac conferences for the past eight years, and has not only provided cost saving document managment services for many of its members, but has also been fully integrated with Healthpac's management systems, and looks forward to many years of sucess together.

The Special Operations Warrior Foundation ensures full financial assistance for the surviving children of our Armed Forces heroes who have made the ultimate sacrifice, which enables them to pursue a degree at university, trade, and technical schools. eBridge continues its backing for the four-star rated charity year after year, and is privileged to play a part in such a noble cause.

eBridge continues its advocacy and support for the Pediatric Cancer Foundation this year. The Tampa-based nationally headquartered foundation funds clinical research, targeted therapies, and translational research with its Sunshine Project initiatives for those afflicted with childhood cancer.

To stay ahead of the technology curve and prepare for the future, eBridge has created a new HTML5 PDF viewer. eBridge passes on the benefits of using HTML5 to it users. These benefits include: faster loading times, better auditing, mobile, Mac, and Linux accessibility and compatibility without the necessity of downloading add-ons. eBridge continues to stay on the cutting-edge by constantly scanning the technological landscape.

Since 2003, eBridge has been donating to American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign. eBridge became a silver level sponsor in 2010, and have been donating on that level ever since. The American Cancer Society is saving more than 490 lives a day and eBridge is proud to offer its continued support in the fight against cancer.

eBridge has successfully completed a rigorous data and security management examination by a third-party compliance auditor, and has met the strict compliance requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the Service Organization Control 2 (SOC2) process. The demanding, four-month assessment and final attestation was executed by 360 Advanced, P.A., a national, multi-service, licensed CPA firm. Completing HIPAA, SOC2, and other formal compliance examinations enhances our reputation for security, reliability and professionalism, and gives us a competitive advantage in an era where data breaches are becoming more frequent and costly.