HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This act covers privacy issues that are related to health care providers, insurers, pharmacies, etc., because these organizations have access to personally protected health information. A big part of being HIPAA compliant is being diligent about maintaining confidentiality. The idea of HIPAA compliance isn’t for physicians or nurses. It is also for the people in other healthcare-related occupations.
Importance of HIPAA Compliance for Dentists
Orthodontic offices most likely receive and send PHI (protected health information) through fax and email every single day. If an orthodontic office shares and receives emails containing PHI without having certain measures in place, it could put their practice and patients at risk.
To meet federal regulations for patient privacy and data security, one needs a HIPAA compliant communication solution. In today’s world of technology, everything can be communicated through emails or text messages. There are also many options for phone calls.
Greyfinch and HIPAA Compliance
Greyfinch’s patient communication software is HIPAA compliant. It allows your practice to communicate with patients about their treatment plans, payments, scheduling appointments, and more! We provide all the compliance features that you need to meet federal mandates. This way, you can stay focused on your patients instead of worrying about documentation, audits, and other necessary requirements that must be completed every year to keep a business running smoothly.
All software-based messaging systems are not created equally. Some do not offer the security or customizable templates that others provide. To ensure secure messaging across many devices, including both web and mobile, Greyfinch uses encryption to encrypt sensitive data for HIPAA compliance. The entire collection process is automated and HIPAA compliant.
Greyfinch offers a suite of software that includes messaging, text messages, patient hub, appointment reminders, and more! All in one place to help you run your business from your computer or mobile device. We provide all the information that you need when it comes to staying up to date with HIPAA compliance rules for messaging and keeping an orthodontic practice running smoothly.
We offer many benefits to our customers which include customizable document templates for letting your referring doctors know about your patients treatment. It ensures great communication between your staff, the external professional, and the -patient. It also helps you become more efficient and productive!
We give your practice the opportunity to increase revenue by allowing patients to schedule their own appointments online and reducing no-shows.
Greyfinch’s patient communication suite makes it easy for you to take care of many aspects of an orthodontic office or other healthcare providers’ business in one easy-to-use platform. It includes the following –
- Email: appointment reminders and secure communication
- Text Messaging: Outgoing text message marketing campaigns to both current and potential patients
- Patient Engagement Portal: Allow patients to communicate with the office from anywhere
HIPAA plays a role in how orthodontic practices communicate with their patients regardless of what type of protocol they use. Your entire staff may not understand exactly what needs to happen in order for your business to remain HIPAA compliant. However, it is important to keep that information confidential between you and your employees only! This way, the company has proof that their data was handled correctly. So, any time there is a question or audit, it can be shown to the healthcare commission.
Conclusion
HIPAA compliant communication is important because it gives patients the knowledge that their data is being handled correctly. The healthcare commission must be shown proof that your company has taken the correct steps to protect patient information. This protects both you and your employees if another employee accidentally sends out a patient’s personal health information.