HIPAA Compliant Messaging for Healthcare

Like any other industry, the healthcare industry can also reap the enormous benefits of texting from Salesforce. On the one hand, text messages support seamless and quick communications with patients at scale. On the other hand, it can help cut back on manual messaging and improve patient experiences by automating interactions. But on the flip side, SMS Salesforce for Healthcare can cost heavy penalties if texts are not HIPAA compliant while texting.

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, enacted to prevent disclosing patients’ sensitive health information without their consent.

So, failure to regulate PHI’s confidentiality, integrity, and availability can lead to high financial penalties.

How to Stay HIPAA-Compliant while Messaging?

HIPAA doesn’t restrict the use of SMS to communicate anything related to Protected Health Information (PHI). But certain practices need to be in place to avoid violating HIPAA rules while texting.

Consent

Like GDPR, CCPA, and TCPA, HIPAA also respects its patient’s interests and privacy. Thus, before sending text messages to patients, getting their formal consent to receive text messages from your organization is vital. Further, you must provide an easy opt-out option in your texts to stay compliant.

More importantly, you cannot send PHI through text messages without the patient’s consent.

Encryption

Encryption is one crucial aspect that needs to be considered while using SMS in CRM for Healthcare or WhatsApp Salesforce for Patient Care. Encrypt text messages to avoid violation of HIPAA compliance.

Else, it could lead to misuse of information if sent to any wrong recipient. Also, there are chances that text messages are intercepted on public Wi-Fi networks. So, to avoid such issues, encryption can help. Further, encryption helps healthcare organizations and medical professionals to communicate more securely.

PHI Access Authorization

Irrespective of an organization’s operating structure, one can still stay compliant while using SMS Salesforce for Healthcare. To prevent unauthorized access and disclosure of confidential health information, you can authorize access to users you have authenticated their ID with a username and PIN issued by your organization.

Besides, you can restrict copying, pasting, and saving while sending PHI through SMS to prevent unauthorized access. 

Also, restrict the forwarding of texts containing PHI to unauthorized third parties that lie outside the organization’s network.

Automatic Logoff

An automatic logoff mechanism should be there if you’re using WhatsApp Salesforce for healthcare or SMS in CRM for patient care to send PHI.

Incorporating an automatic logoff mechanism is vital when a desktop or mobile device is inactive for a predetermined time is vital. This would help to prevent unauthorized access to PHI.

PHI Integrity

According to HIPAA, one should not compromise, risk, change, or destroy PHI integrity while distributing through SMS Salesforce in the healthcare industry. So, organizations must have technical safeguards in place to ensure that PHI should not be damaged or altered due to any human or system error.

This would help to stay compliant using an app compliant with HIPAA on AppExchange while sending SMS in Salesforce for patient care.

Avoid Risk of Penalties in Healthcare being HIPAA Compliant

The healthcare industry deals with sensitive and protected health information of patients. So this needs to safeguard in every manner while using SMS or WhatsApp in CRM for healthcare. Else, it could lead to patient complaints and heavy fines.

Thus, healthcare professionals can make the best out of text messages and reduce lot of effort while distributing necessary information to patients by staying HIPAA compliant. Also, they can save themselves from the risk of financial penalties while using SMS to communicate with patients or medical professionals.

To know more about how 360 SMS helps you stay HIPAA compliant while texting patients, talk to our experts at care@360smsapp.com or contact us here.