HIPAA Appointment Reminders Compliancy

Answers to questions regarding DoctorConnect appointment reminders in regard to HIPAA compliancy.

What is HIPPA?

HIPAA is the federal Health Insurance Portability and AccountabilityAct of 1996. The primary goal of the law is to make it easier for people to keep health insurance, protect the confidentiality and security of healthcare information and help the healthcare industry control administrative costs.

Are appointment reminders allowed under the HIPAA Privacy Rule without authorizations?

Answer:

Yes, appointment reminders are considered part of treatment of an individual and, therefore, can be made without an authorization.
Source: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/faq/smaller_providers_and_businesses/286.html

HIPAA also states that you should do what you can to accommodate a patient’s preferred method of communication — for example sending a voice message instead of a text.

DoctorConnect can easily handle these requests – we can even import the communication preferences already stored in your patient database.

Is Texting Allowed?

• HIPAA does not prohibit texting. There is no rule prohibiting healthcare providers from texting appointment reminders, missed appointment notices, etc. to patients.
• HIPAA specifically allows direct communication with patients. Whether that communication takes the form of phone calls, mail, email or texting, healthcare providers must have adequate safeguards to ensure the privacy of patients’ Protected Health Information (PHI) – something true for all forms of communication with patients.

Please call us today regarding any questions or concerns you may have concerning HIPAA and appointment reminders – DoctorConnect safely delivers more than 50,000 reminders to patients every day.

topic: HIPAA Appointment Reminders