Email marketing is a valuable tool for reaching out to patients and promoting services in the healthcare industry. However, it's important to ensure email marketing practices comply with HIPAA regulations. HIPAA compliant email marketing requires healthcare organizations to consider patient authorization, the use of protected health information (PHI), and the selection of a HIPAA compliant email vendor, like Paubox.
Patient authorization to receive emails
Before sending marketing emails to patients, healthcare organizations must obtain explicit consent to communicate via email. Providers can have patients sign email consent forms as part of the onboarding process. However, for HIPAA compliant email marketing, patients must specifically consent to receiving marketing communications via email. This consent can be included as a clause within the email consent form. Additionally, patients should be able to opt out of marketing emails and unsubscribe if they no longer wish to receive such communications.
Related: How to obtain patient consent for email communication
Patient authorization to use PHI
While obtaining consent for email marketing, healthcare organizations should also consider the use of protected health information (PHI) in their email communications. If healthcare organizations wish to include patient testimonials or reviews containing PHI in their marketing emails, they need to obtain written consent from the patients. This ensures that patient privacy is protected and PHI is handled per HIPAA regulations.
Read also: Sharing patient information with authorization
Informing patients of risk
There are instances where healthcare organizations communicate with patients via email for purposes other than marketing, such as when patients request copies of their medical records. In these cases, patients should be made aware that email communication may not be completely secure, and alternative methods of communication should be offered if they prefer a more secure option.
Choosing the right vendor
When it comes to HIPAA compliant email marketing, not all email marketing vendors are created equal. Popular tools like HubSpot and MailChimp, for example, are not HIPAA compliant. Therefore, assessing a vendor's HIPAA compliance is necessary before choosing them for patient emails.
Encryption
Encryption is a critical component of keeping PHI secure. It ensures that data at rest (stored data) and data in transit (data being sent) are protected from unauthorized access. Email subject lines cannot be encrypted, so PHI should never be included in the subject line of an email.
Business Associate Agreements
Email vendors must be willing and able to sign business associate agreements (BAAs) to be HIPAA compliant. Email providers are considered business associates under HIPAA regulations because they handle, transmit, and store data for healthcare clients. Signing a BAA ensures that the vendor understands their responsibilities in maintaining HIPAA compliance and outlines the necessary security measures they must have in place to protect PHI.
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Paubox’s suggestions
When it comes to HIPAA and healthcare email marketing:
- Healthcare marketing emails have to abide by HIPAA regulations
- Patients must authorize marketing email communications
- Use Paubox Marketing to send personalized marketing emails including PHI - or better yet, cover your bases and use it for all marketing emails
How Paubox simplifies HIPAA compliant marketing
Paubox offers a cutting-edge HIPAA compliant email marketing platform, designed specifically for healthcare organizations to securely engage with patients. Unlike other marketing platforms, Paubox eliminates the need for cumbersome portals and extra steps, allowing patients to receive encrypted, personalized emails directly in their inboxes. By integrating PHI into email marketing campaigns, Paubox ensures healthcare providers can send appointment reminders, health updates, or promotional messages without compromising compliance.
The platform’s intuitive drag-and-drop builder and customizable templates make it easy for marketers to design engaging campaigns, even without technical expertise. Paubox also provides real-time analytics, so organizations can track open rates, click-throughs, and overall engagement, ensuring the effectiveness of each campaign. By enhancing email deliverability, Paubox ensures that messages reach their audience’s inbox rather than being filtered as spam. The platform's ability to segment audiences and automate workflows makes it a powerful tool for personalized outreach, ultimately boosting patient engagement and increasing revenue opportunities for healthcare providers.
In addition, Paubox is HITRUST certified, offering the highest level of security and compliance in the healthcare industry. This allows healthcare marketers to maintain patient trust while using email marketing to foster stronger relationships and better health outcomes.
Related: HIPAA compliant email marketing: What you need to know
In the news
In 2017, the medical center Allergy Associates of Hartford was fined $125,000 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for a HIPAA violation. The violation occurred when a physician improperly disclosed a patient’s protected health information (PHI) to a local news reporter. The patient had filed a complaint with a local television station about the clinic’s services, and in response, the doctor provided the reporter with the patient’s PHI without the patient’s authorization.
This case demonstrates a HIPAA violation because the medical center shared PHI for a purpose that did not fall under any of HIPAA's permissible uses, such as treatment or healthcare operations, and it failed to obtain the patient's authorization for the disclosure.
This violation exemplifies how improper handling of PHI for non-compliant purposes, even in public relations or marketing situations, can lead to penalties.
FAQs
What is HIPAA compliant marketing?
HIPAA compliant marketing refers to the use of protected health information (PHI) in marketing communications while adhering to HIPAA regulations. It ensures that healthcare organizations can market to patients securely by following privacy rules and using encrypted communications.
Can healthcare providers send promotional emails without violating HIPAA?
Yes, healthcare providers can send promotional emails if they use a HIPAA compliant email marketing platform that encrypts PHI and complies with privacy regulations.
What features should a HIPAA compliant email marketing platform include?
A HIPAA compliant platform should offer encrypted communications, personalized messaging with PHI, real-time analytics, audience segmentation, and provide a business associate agreement (BAA) to ensure secure handling of patient data.
See also: HIPAA compliant email marketing: What you need to know
Farah Amod
