Build Patient Trust with Email Encryption for Healthcare

For healthcare companies, consistent, clear, and personalized communication is key for enhancing patient engagement and, consequently, facilitating better health outcomes. 

Another crucial component of successfully connecting with patients and customers is building trust. This in itself is a multi-faceted goal, which includes displaying empathy and respect, in addition to clear communication. A vital and practical aspect of it all is data privacy and security: patients need to know that their personal data, i.e., protected health data (PHI), is safe in your hands.  

With email being a preferred patient engagement channel, email encryption for healthcare has emerged as one of the most important and effective methods of securing sensitive patient data, allowing healthcare organizations to balance the efficacy and accessibility of email communications and marketing with the stringent security demands of protecting patient privacy and HIPAA compliance.

In this article, we discuss the importance of safeguarding sensitive patient information through email encryption, and how it enables healthcare providers, payers, and suppliers to better connect with patients and customers,  secure in the knowledge they’re protecting PHI and acting in accordance with HIPAA regulations.

Why Email Remains Critical in Healthcare Communication

Before we dive into why email encryption is so important for secure and HIPAA-compliant communications, let’s briefly discuss why email, even among more modern methods of engagement, such as text or messgaing apps,  has persisted as a preferred communication channel.

According to a study conducted by Accenture and AdvaMed, over 70% of patients favor digital communication, with email being a preferred method across several age demographics. As well as its diverse applications, with healthcare companies able to use it to send appointment reminders, test results, educational health resources, new service offers, and more, email remains a core component of healthcare communication as the most accessible option – underscoring its importance as a convenient and reliable channel for certain types of healthcare communication, including:

• Instant and Cost-Effective: email is an affordable way for healthcare organizations to instantly connect with a large number of patients through bulk email campaigns. This is especially true in comparison with physical mail or phone calls, as it allows you to save on resources, postage, and even electricity (aiding companies in achieving their sustainability goals), in addition to requiring fewer staff hours. 
• Asynchronous Interaction: while emails reach patients instantly, they don’t have to respond straight away. They can read mails at their convenience, allowing them to better assess their options and make informed decisions for the benefit of their healthcare journey. 
• Wide Adoption and Accessibility: having been around for over three decades, the vast majority of patients and customers have email accounts. Not to mention, most people are in the habit of checking their inboxes at least once a day. That’s not only advantageous for companies that take the time to craft effective healthcare email engagement campaigns, it also makes it an inclusive communication channel for a diverse range of demographics, including those who are underserved in regards to their healthcare provision.
• Personalization: email is very conducive to customization, enabling healthcare organizations to segment their patients according to shared characteristics (age, gender, medical conditions, new product needs, etc.) and send personalized communications for a stronger connection. 
• Measurability: Email campaigns provide analytics, e.g., open and click-through rates, and deliverability success, providing healthcare organizations with pertinent data (i.e., feedback) with which they can refine their communication strategies for improved engagement and better outcomes.

For healthcare organizations, encrypted email solutions ensure that PHI remains secure while harnessing the power of large-scale, personalized communication campaigns. Let’s move on to talking about why building trust is essential for effective patient engagement and the role that email encryption plays in building stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

The Role of Trust in Healthcare Communication

In every industry, especially in the AI era we’re entering into, data security has never been more hotly debated. More importantly, conversations over data privacy and cybersecurity aren’t only taking place in the C-suite, but it’s also a subject that the general public is becoming increasingly aware of and concerned about. In other words, to build trust with patients and customers, companies must display a commitment to protecting people’s  sensitive data and their right to privacy.

In the healthcare industry, data security is especially vital for several reasons, including:

• Each person’s healthcare journey is a unique, integral – and unavoidable – part of their lives. 
• PHI includes information such as medical histories, mental health conditions, genetic information, and other intimate details that patients don’t want made public. Consequently, a security breach that exposes a patient’s data could result in social stigmatization, discrimination, and, consequently emotional distress.
• Identity theft through the exfiltration of PHI can result in fraudulent transactions, in which medical treatments are erroneously billed to the victim.
• If trust in data handling is eroded, it could discourage patients from seeking care or being honest about their medical conditions. This can then affect their health outcomes, including the quality or span of their lives.

When patients trust that their data is being handled securely, they’re more likely to engage with healthcare providers, payers, and suppliers. Subsequently, a recent report from Accenture revealed that patients are six times more likely to stay with their providers if they trust them. 

Using secure email delivery platforms., such as LuxSci, enables healthcare organizations to share comprehensive, personalized communications containing PHI, providing value to patients and customers to boost trust and satisfaction, while aiding in better health outcomes.  Ensuring your chosen communication platform has sufficient email encryption to meet HIPAA standards is critical, allowing you to execute email engagement campaigns secure in the knowledge you’re handling their sensitive data with the care and diligence it deserves.  

Best Practices for  Email Encryption for Healthcare Communication

Now that we’ve emphasised the importance of developing trust with your patients and the role of email encryption plays in that process, let’s move on to how to encrypt PHI for secure and HIPAA-compliant patient and customer engagement:

• Choose HIPAA-Compliant Communication Tools: first, invest in a secure healthcare communications delivery platform that’s specifically designed for secure PHI data to ensure comprehensive email encryption, and enabling you to personalize your messages.
• Automate Encryption: preferably, opt for an email communication solution that features automated encryption technology with no user intervention required. This both minimizes the risk of human error when conducting your email engagement campaigns and reduces the operational overhead of enabling encryption and ensuring it matches the sensitivity of the transmitted PHI.
• Integrate with Other Platforms: integrate your HIPAA-compliant platforms with the other systems in your digital ecosystem, such as Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems, customer data platforms (CDPs), and customer engagement platforms (CEPs), where PHI resides. This not only streamlines workflows and centralizes PHI for increased data accuracy but it also ensures that data shared between platforms and your email provider remains encrypted, preventing PHI exposure through security breaches and unauthorized access.
• Educate Your Employees on Security Best Practices: educate your staff with sufficient training on secure communication practices, including the importance of email encryption and its function in securing sensitive patient data and adhering to HIPAA compliance guidelines.

How Luxsci Helps Secure Communications, Build Trust, and Ensure HIPAA Compliance 

LuxSci is a leader in email encryption for healthcare, offering HIPAA-compliant solutions that empower organizations to connect with patients and customers securely and effectively. With over 25 years of expertise, we’ve facilitated the delivery of billions of encrypted emails for healthcare providers, payers, and suppliers, and we’re not done yet.

Luxsci’s proprietary SecureLine technology aids HIPAA compliance and the safety of PHI through:

• End-to-end email encryption: ensuring the encryption of sensitive patient data at rest and in transit. 
• Automated encryption: “set and forget” email encryption guarantees security and HIPAA compliance–with no user action required once configured. 
• Flexible encryption: dynamically determining the optimal level of email encryption, as per the recipient’s security posture and supported encryption methods. This makes sure messages are delivered securely while maintaining compliance with HIPAA regulations–and balancing compliance with your business growth and objectives.

Ready to take your patient and customer email engagment to the next level? Contact LuxSci today to learn how our encrypted email solutions can support your high-volume, HIPAA-compliant email campaigns for communications, transactions and marketing.