Proof, compliance and data
HDS
Acronym: HDS
HDS certification, for health data hosting, is mandatory in France for any provider that hosts health data on behalf of others.
It stems from the French Public Health Code and rests on a framework that builds on information security standards, with additional health-specific requirements. It is issued by accredited certification bodies. It does not concern the practitioner who keeps their own records, but the third party they entrust them to.
Why it matters for fax
Fax remains common between healthcare professionals. As soon as an online service stores the documents sent or received on behalf of a facility, certified hosting becomes an issue; a service that keeps nothing after sending raises it differently.