Obtain and document patient consent Before any health information is sent via text you need to obtain and document patient consent. Your practice or hospital should inform patients that text messages are used as a reminder service for appointments and recalls through your privacy policy and/or the practice website.
Texting a patient's name or any other personally identifiable health information is a HIPAA violation. If you do need to text PHI, use a HIPAA compliant secure text app. These platforms move conversations from texts over to encrypted and password-protected messaging channels.
Before texting a patient, you need to make sure that they've given their consent to being texted by you. Texting patients who haven't consented to text message communication can be a major violation of HIPAA standards, not to mention other regulations set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Texting patient information to patients is allowed by HIPAA provided the Covered Entity has warned the patient that the risk of unauthorized disclosure exists and has obtained the patient´s consent to communicate by text. Both the warning and the consent must be documented.
You be able to respond to the GP by typing in the text box and attaching a photo if your GP has asked you to.
Appointments with the GP are confidential regardless of a person's age. Doctors and nurses have very strict rules on confidentiality so that everything a patient tells them, their personal details and medical records are kept completely private.
Ideally, your texts should be structured so that patients can respond with very few words, i.e. “Yes”, “No”, “I need to change my appt”, “That works for me”. If you need more information than that, reach out to them by email or phone instead.
You do not need expressed consent to text your patients about matters concerning their health. You do, however, need permission to text them anything marketing related. To err on the safe side, you should gather text messaging consent as a part of your normal intake process.
Messages could jeopardize patient privacy if they are sent to the wrong recipient, intercepted by hackers or uncovered by another user. To address these issues, HIPAA requires the use of safeguards, such as encrypted messaging and other controls that prevent unauthorized access to protected health information.
Text messaging in healthcare enables patients to conveniently and easily contact their providers through a channel they prefer. In a 2021 study of patients' communication preferences post discharge, 97% of respondents reported text messaging as a tool they use for general, day to day communication.
How Can Social Media Posts Violate HIPAA? Generally, health care providers should never post information about patients on social media. There may be some limited circumstances where certain information can be posted if a valid patient authorization was first obtained.
When sharing patient information with family over the phone, healthcare providers need to ensure they verify who they are speaking to, that the patient has not objected to their health information being shared, and that any details disclosed to family members comply with the HIPAA Minimum Necessary Standard.
Among other mandates related to the standardization of electronic health care transactions, HIPAA prohibits medical professionals from publicly sharing health-related identifiable information about patients, their household members and their relatives.
With SMS, messages you send are not end-to-end encrypted. Your cellular provider can see the contents of messages you send and receive. Those messages are stored on your cellular provider's systems—so, instead of a tech company like Facebook seeing your messages, your cellular provider can see your messages.
Don't provide any specific data points in your voicemail. Especially don't include the prescription number and the medication name. Leave the specifics for when the patient calls you back to have a conversation.
Making a written threat via text is not only prohibited by state law but also by federal statutes. Under 18 U.S.C. § 875 transmitting through any type of communication a threat to injure a person is illegal. As with state law, the threat can be made against the person who received the message or someone else.
HIPAA does not prohibit the use of text messaging in healthcare. It is perfectly acceptable for doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals to communicate with each other – and even patients – via text message.
Low levels of vocabulary, poor spelling and grammar, as well as incomplete sentences have all been raised as reasons why text messaging is having a detrimental effect on language.
SMS consent refers to whether someone is opted in (i.e., if they have agreed to receive marketing text messages from your brand).
have a text messaging policy in place at your practice or hospital. obtain and document the patient's consent and verify their identification and contact details before any health information is sent via text.
No matter what the story or situation is, don't gossip about patient information in public areas. Even if you have permission to discuss it with another employee, do so in privacy so no unauthorized individuals overhear.
Most patients want physicians to greet them with a handshake and to introduce themselves using their first and last names. The first step in developing trusting relationships with patients is an appropriate introduction.
First, always introduce yourself and state your name and title. Next, make sure to speak clearly and slowly. It is also important to make eye contact and to smile. Finally, ask the patient how they are doing and if there is anything you can do for them.