HIPAA-compliant web forms allow you to collect information and protect PHI

Medical practices are like any other business in the sense they often collect information using web forms. However, collecting patient information isn’t the same as gathering data from potential customers. As you know, we have HIPAA to contend with. To avoid privacy violations and protect PHI, you need to use HIPAA-compliant web forms.

To help you stay on the right side of HIPAA, we’re talking about what makes a form HIPAA-compliant and how we help our clients find secure options for forms.

A quick refresher on HIPAA and ePHI

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, better known as HIPAA, protects your patients’ privacy when it comes to certain health information. You’ll find there are two main rules.

• The HIPAA Privacy Rule establishes standards for protecting covered health information.
• As for the Security Rule, it lists national security standards for protecting health information that people hold or transfer in an electronic format.

When it comes to HIPAA-compliant web forms, we’re particularly interested in the Security Rule. Why? Because it covers electronic protected health information (ePHI). This includes everything from a patient’s name and contact information to descriptions of their medical issues.

Under the Security Rule, your practice “must maintain reasonable and appropriate administrative, technical and physical safeguards for protecting ePHI.” This single sentence encompasses many requirements, ranging from providing workforce training to limiting physical access to your facilities. It also requires your practice to use the right type of web forms.

What are HIPAA-compliant web forms?

Contrary to popular belief, not all web forms are created equal. To comply with this federal regulation, your web forms must be submitted through a securely encrypted server. This applies every time a patient or a potential patient completes an online form and then submits it to your practice.

We realize finding HIPAA-compliant web forms can feel like a daunting task. Thankfully, you don’t have to do it alone. Catalyst Healthcare Marketing has connections with leading companies that offer solutions for forms that will keep you on the right side of HIPAA. We help our clients get started with these options and support them as they use them. If you’d like to learn how the team at Catalyst Healthcare Marketing can help you protect PHI, contact us to schedule a time to talk.