Westside Medical Center Achieves Streamlined PHI Redaction with Browser-Based Privacy
How a regional healthcare system processes 500+ patient records monthly while keeping PHI completely off external servers.
About Westside Medical Center
Westside Medical Center is a 280-bed regional healthcare system serving communities across three counties in the Pacific Northwest. With annual patient visits exceeding 150,000, the organization generates and processes millions of medical records containing protected health information (PHI).
The Health Information Management (HIM) department handles records requests from patients, attorneys, insurance companies, and other healthcare providers—each requiring careful redaction to release only the information authorized while protecting all PHI.
Organization Profile
- Type: Regional Healthcare System
- Size: 280 beds, 2,400 employees
- Location: Pacific Northwest
- Annual Visits: 150,000+
- Records Requests: 500+/month
The Challenge
Marcus Thompson, RHIA, Compliance Officer at Westside Medical Center, faced a critical dilemma:
"We needed to process records requests faster—patients and attorneys were frustrated with wait times. But every redaction tool we evaluated required uploading PHI to external servers. That's a non-starter from a HIPAA perspective. We don't control those servers. We can't audit them. The risk was unacceptable."
The compliance team faced several interconnected challenges:
HIPAA Data Handling
Cloud-based redaction tools would create a new Business Associate relationship and expand their attack surface for PHI breaches.
18 PHI Identifiers
HIPAA defines 18 specific PHI identifiers. Manual review meant staff had to check for names, dates, addresses, SSNs, MRNs, and 13 other categories on every page.
Request Volume
With 500+ records requests monthly and limited HIM staff, turnaround times were stretching to 15-20 days—far beyond their 10-day target.
Audit Trail Requirements
Every redaction needed documentation for compliance audits. Manual processes made this tracking cumbersome and error-prone.
Why SafeRedact
After evaluating multiple solutions, Westside Medical Center chose SafeRedact specifically because of its unique architecture:
Browser-Based Processing
Patient records never leave the HIM workstation. The document stays in the browser—only extracted text (without document structure or images) is analyzed by AI.
Common PHI Detection
SafeRedact's AI detects many common PHI types including names, dates, phone numbers, emails, SSNs, and account numbers. Organizations should verify detection meets their specific compliance requirements.
Speed Without Sacrifice
A 50-page medical record that took 45 minutes to manually review now takes under 5 minutes with AI-assisted detection and human verification.
No IT Infrastructure
No servers to manage, no software to install, no BAA negotiations. Staff access SafeRedact through their existing web browsers.
Implementation Process
The transition was completed in under two weeks:
Week 1: Pilot Testing
Three HIM specialists tested SafeRedact on a sample of records requests, comparing results against their manual process.
Week 1: Compliance Review
Legal and compliance teams reviewed SafeRedact's architecture and confirmed that browser-based processing met their data handling requirements without creating new third-party data exposure.
Week 2: Team Training
Brief 30-minute training session for all 12 HIM staff members. Most were productive within their first hour of use.
Week 2: Full Deployment
SafeRedact became the standard redaction tool for all records requests. Manual redaction reserved only for edge cases.
The Results
After eight months of production use, Westside Medical Center has seen significant improvements:
Average Turnaround
Records request turnaround dropped from 15-20 days to 7 days—well under their 10-day target and exceeding patient expectations.
Time Reduction
Per-record redaction time dropped from 45+ minutes to under 5 minutes, freeing staff for other critical HIM functions.
PHI Incidents
No instances of inadvertent PHI disclosure since adopting SafeRedact. The AI catches items humans routinely miss.
Data Exposure
Patient records never leave hospital workstations. No new third-party data processors, no expanded attack surface.
"SafeRedact solved our impossible problem: we needed AI-powered efficiency without compromising HIPAA compliance. The browser-based architecture was the key. Patient records stay on our workstations, period. That's the level of control we need."
Important Note: SafeRedact is a document redaction tool that can support PHI protection workflows. HIPAA compliance requires comprehensive organizational policies, training, and procedures beyond any single tool. Organizations should consult with qualified compliance professionals to ensure their complete redaction and privacy workflows meet regulatory requirements. This case study describes one organization's experience and is not legal or compliance advice.
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