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The Risks of Non-Compliant Email: How HIPAA Violations Hurt Healthcare Companies

Monday, February 3rd, 2025

In today’s increasingly digitized healthcare landscape, email is an essential tool for communication between providers, patients, and other key stakeholders. However, non-compliance with HIPAA standards for email can have devastating consequences.

From hefty fines to eroded patient trust, the risks of non-compliance with HIPAA regulations, for healthcare organizations of all sizes are considerable. Understanding what constitutes HIPAA-compliant email communication and how to best protect sensitive patient data are crucial to mitigating these risks.

With this in mind, this post details the risk of non-compliant email, the security measures required by HIPAA regulations, and essential strategies for securing protected health information (PHI) and ensuring compliance.

What Are The Risks of Non-Compliant Email?

Let’s begin by detailing the consequences of non-compliance with HIPAA regulations

Data Breaches: while not a direct consequence of non-compliance, by failing to implement the security measures mandated by HIPAA, you increase the risk of falling victim to a data breach by malicious actors. This can result in unauthorized access to sensitive patient data – leading to the additional consequences of non-compliance outlined below.

Operational Issues: a data breach will negatively impact an organization’s regular operations: exhausting manpower, resources, and attention until it’s contained – and the resulting fallout is managed. At worst, this can demand a lot of a company’s time and resources, for an extended period, affecting their ability to deliver their products and services.

Unfortunately, when it comes to patients’ healthcare, this can have devastating ripple effects, e.g., an individual not being able to acquire a required prescription or medical device in a timely fashion.

Financial Penalties: Non-compliance with HIPAA or other privacy laws can result in hefty fines, compensation from resulting lawsuits, and, in some cases, financial penalties from the state in which the healthcare organization is based.

Reputation Damage: Mishandling sensitive data can lead to a loss of credibility – erode patient trust and harm the organization’s hard-earned public image and industry standing. As we’ll see later in this post, the larger the healthcare organization, the bigger the story and the more significant the potential fallout.

What Does HIPAA-Compliant Email Require?

So, now we’ve covered the consequences of not adhering to HIPAA standards, how can organizations avoid them and achieve compliance. Let’s explore the critical components of HIPAA-compliant email.

  • Encryption
    The HIPAA Security Rule mandates encryption of email data both in transit, when being sent to recipients,  and at rest, where it is stored. This means that emails containing PHI must be scrambled into an unreadable format, ensuring they are only accessible to authorized recipients – even in the event they’re intercepted by cybercriminals. Advanced encryption protocols, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS), and measures, such as end-to-end and flexible encryption, ensure the secure exchange of sensitive patient data between servers.
  • Access Control
    Just because a healthcare organization has access to a patient’s sensitive data, that certainly doesn’t mean that any employee should be able to access said data – quite the opposite, in fact. Consequently, healthcare organizations must implement access control measures to ensure that only those authorized to handle PHI within your organization have access to it.A prominent example of this is role-based access control (RBAC), by which employees are granted access privileges according to their job role and the extent to which they need to deal with patient data. For example, an employee in a healthcare provider’s billing department will need access to PHI, to include it in email communications with patients.
  • User Authentication
    In addition to limiting access to the appropriate employees, it’s critical that personnel are who they claim, or present themselves, to be when logging into your company’s network – so you must also implement strong user authentication measures.

Common ways of authenticating users include unique usernames, strong passwords, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) – where users have to prove their identity in more than one way (e.g., a one-time password (OTP) or biometric scan).  This is a growing cybersecurity requirement that’s increasingly essential for preventing unauthorized access from cybercriminals who are looking to access PHI by impersonating the employees of healthcare companies.

  • Automatic Session Timeout
    Another simple, yet effective mitigation measure against unauthorized access is the inclusion of a built-in session timeout feature. This will cause an application to automatically log a user out after a set period of inactivity, reducing the risk of session jacking and other methods of unauthorized access.
  • Audit Logs
    Another key aspect of HIPAA compliance is for a healthcare organization to maintain detailed logs of email activity. This involves continually recording information that includes who accessed the data, at which time, and, how it has been modified in any way. As well as helping with compliance, audit logs make it easier to locate and contain breaches – in addition to highlighting how and where an organization must strengthen its cybersecurity posture.
  • Business Associate Agreements (BAA):
    If you use a third-party email provider to transmit PHI, you must have a BAA in place to avoid the risks of HIPAA non-compliance. A BAA details the respective responsibilities of both the healthcare company and the email provider in protecting patient data, which holds both parties accountable.

 

Real-World Consequences of Non-Compliant Email

 

Now that we’ve explored the consequences of email non-compliance, as well as what a healthcare organization must do to adhere to HIPAA regulations, let’s briefly look at a couple of recent real-life examples

Example of a Large-Scale Breach

In 2023, a leading U.S. hospital system exposed over 3 million patient records due to unencrypted emails containing PHI. Not only was the healthcare organization fined $1.25 million, but it also faced class-action lawsuits and a severe blow to its reputation.

Example of a Data Breach Suffered by a Smaller Healthcare Company

Alarmingly, as cybercriminals grow in numbers and capability, smaller healthcare organizations are under threat from cyber attacks and the resulting exposure of PHI. Again, in 2023, a small healthcare provider in California suffered a data breach compromising sensitive patient data, including names, Social Security numbers, health insurance details, and medical records. The breach led to a class-action lawsuit and subsequent settlement, allowing affected patients to claim up to $8,050 in compensation.

Now, while the scale of this breach was limited, it highlights that even smaller healthcare companies are frequent targets of malicious action and can’t afford, quite literally, in some cases, to have a weak cybersecurity posture that doesn’t meet HIPAA standards.

5 Key Strategies for Ensuring HIPAA-Compliant Email Communication 

Having explored the requirements of HIPAA-compliant email communication and the repercussions of falling afoul of HIPAA regulations, let’s move on to how you can mitigate the risks of non-compliant email.

  1. Conduct Regular Security Audits

    Regular security assessments enable organizations to proactively identify vulnerabilities within their networks – instead of merely responding to threats. Your security audits should include the evaluation of encryption protocols, access control policies, and user authentication, in alignment with HIPAA regulations. You should conduct a security audit annually or when you make changes to IT infrastructure that are likely to impact PHI.
  2. Invest in Employee Training

    Human error is a leading cause of HIPAA violations and, if left unchecked, will undermine your other risk mitigation measures. Structured cybersecurity awareness training sessions help employees understand the importance of secure communication practices, recognize types of cyber threats they’re likely to encounter (e.g., phishing), and what to do if they notice anything suspicious (i.e., who to contact).
  3. Implement Access Control and User Authentication Measures

    Ensuring that PHI can only be accessed by those authorized to handle it, and for good reason, is essential for HIPAA-compliant email. This could include policies such as the principle of least privilege, where employees are given the minimum amount of access to patient data required to perform their job, as well as a robust password policy and MFA.
  4. Establish a BAA with Your Email Provider

    A BAA isn’t just a formality—it’s a legally binding contract that holds your email provider accountable for HIPAA-compliant email communication. The offer of a BAA signifies an email provider’s commitment to data privacy and that they have invested in the necessary infrastructure to best secure sensitive patient data.
  5. Adopt a Secure Email Platform

    Deploying a HIPAA-compliant email platform is the cornerstone of safeguarding PHI, providing policies and controls designed with the security and compliance needs of healthcare specifically in mind.  LuxSci is an example of such a solution: offering end-to-end encryption, seamless integration, and an intuitive user experience.

Protect Your Organization From The Risks of Non-Compliant Email With LuxSci

Implementing the security measures required for HIPAA-compliant email doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With LuxSci’s secure email hosting and secure high-volume email solutions, your organization can best safeguard patient data, avoid costly breaches, and mitigate all the risks of non-compliant email. Best of all, with the ability to securely include PHI in your email communications, you can better engage with patients: building trust, helping patients become more involved in their healthcare journeys, and, ultimately, driving better health outcomes.

Contact LuxSci today to learn how we can support your email compliance journey using our best-in-class HIPAA compliant infrastructure.

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How to Make Microsoft 365 HIPAA-Compliant

Friday, November 15th, 2024

For healthcare providers and organizations required to handle sensitive protected health information (PHI), ensuring HIPAA compliance in digital communications is critical.

While technology has improved significantly since the explosion of PCs in the 1990s, seminal Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, and Outlook are as widely used and popular as ever. The current incarnation, Microsoft 365, is favored by many healthcare companies due to its renowned simplicity and accessibility – but it doesn’t meet HIPAA requirements straight out of the box.

With this in mind, this post will walk you through why Microsoft 365 isn’t inherently HIPAA-compliant, the steps required to achieve compliance, and how the LuxSci Secure Email Gateway provides a simple solution to the often-complex challenge of making Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant.

Why Microsoft 365 is Not HIPAA-compliant by Default

Before we detail how to make Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant, let us explain why it fails to meet HIPAA regulatory standards out-of-the-box.

  • Non-Compliant Versions: first and foremost, not all versions of Microsoft 365 even support HIPAA-compliance needs, so your first port of call of determining whether the version deployed within your organization allows for the secure and compliant use of protected health information PHI.
  • Unverified Encryption: While Microsoft 365 provides the required encryption of data in both transit (when sent to patients and customers) and at rest (when stored in data centers), it’s up to the healthcare company to verify their protocols as per the HIPAA Security Rule.
  • Insufficient Security Controls: similarly, Microsoft 365 possesses the necessary controls to meet HIPAA compliance but they’re not configured for the secure handling of PHI by default.
  • No Business Associate Agreement (BAA) by default: unlike notable platforms, such as Mailchimp, Microsoft is willing to sign a BAA: a crucial requirement for HIPAA compliance, as a third party handling your company’s PHI. However, the BAA isn’t active until executed by both parties.

Steps for Making Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant

Fortunately, you can use Microsoft 365 for your healthcare email communications and marketing campaigns without suffering the penalties of falling out of HIPAA non-compliance, which include operational obstructions, financial penalties, and damage to your company’s standing within the industry and with patients and customers.

Here’s how to make Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant:

1. Purchase a HIPAA-compliant Microsoft 365 subscription

If you don’t already have one deployed, upgrade to a version of Microsoft that’s designed for HIPAA compliance, i.e., features the required security and compliance components.

These include:

  • Microsoft 365 Business Premium
  • Microsoft 365 E3
  • Microsoft 365 E5

Conversely, the following versions do not support HIPAA compliance:

  • Microsoft 365 Personal/Family
  • Microsoft 365 Business Basic
  • Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

2. Sign a BAA

Obtain an BAA, so your and Microsoft’s responsibilities in regards to the handling of sensitive patient data is legally documented.

3. Configure Security Settings to Meet HIPAA Standards

Ensure the appropriate security policies and controls are in place to facilitate the safe and compliant processing of patient data.

This includes the implementation of:

  • A comprehensive risk analysis, to determine and categorize threats to PHI.
  • Robust access control policies (e.g., role-based access control (RBAC)) to limit access to personnel who are allowed to handle PHI
  • Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies, to detect and restrict the sharing of PHI.
  • Continuous monitoring, logging, and auditing processes to track the access, modification, and transmission of PHI.

You can read the full instructions for correctly configuring Microsoft 365 to make it HIPAA-compliant in this comprehensive document published by Microsoft.

4. Enable Encryption by Default

A key requirement of making Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant is ensuring all emails are encrypted automatically. This is due to the fact that some encrypted emails sent from Microsoft 365 are incompatible with the security settings of the recipient email server. Consequently, the recipient can’t read the encrypted message and they’re unable to engage with your communications – no matter how carefully crafted or personalized.

Fortunately, this can be quickly remediated by configuring Microsoft 365 to route through a HIPAA-compliant email delivery service, like LuxSci, which features automated encryption and makes sure your healthcare emails reach the patients and customers without issue and in compliance.

Why Choose LuxSci Secure Email Gateway for HIPAA-Compliant Microsoft 365 Email

Despite the capabilities, not to mention comfort and convenience that Microsoft 365 offers, healthcare companies can understandably be wary of using it for patient and customer engagment campaigns using and including PHI – because the configuration required to make it HIPAA-compliant can be intricate and time-consuming.

Fortunately, the LuxSci Secure Email Gateway solution is designed to streamline the process. LuxSci can be directly integrated with your Microsoft 365 implementation to provide robust security features that exceed HIPAA requirements, ensuring compliance for your healthcare engagement efforts while keeping patient and customer data safe.

Features include:

  • End-to-End Encryption: Protects PHI both in transit and at rest, ensuring end-to-end security regardless of the recipient’s email server.
  • Comprehensive Audit and Tracking: Detailed auditing and tracking of all Microsoft 365 email communications, making it easy to monitor who accesses what information and when, a crucial component for HIPAA compliance.
  • Customizable Security Policies: Advanced controls and policies, which enable the configuration of automated safeguards that enforce HIPAA-compliant email practices across your organization.
  • User-Friendly Design: While maintaining high-security standards, LuxSci’s interface is intuitive, making it easy for your staff to securely communicate with patients without added friction or complexity.
  • Automatated Secure Sending: Communications containing PHI can be automatically routed through secure channels, so there’s no risk of accidental insecure sending. Consequently, there’s no action required by employees to guarantee encryption and HIPAA compliance.
  • Best-in-Class Customer Support for Compliance Needs: As the most experienced provider of secure HIPAA-compliant healthcare communications, LuxSci has acquired a reputation for providing the highest standard of support in the industry. Our skilled team provides comprehensive support that helps healthcare providers, payers and suppliers navigate the challenges and complications on the road to full HIPAA compliance.

If you’d like to learn more about making Microsoft 365 HIPAA-compliant with LuxSci Secure Email Gateway, contact us today!

 

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What You Need to Know About PHI Identifiers

Tuesday, November 5th, 2024

It’s hard to understate the benefits of using protected health information (PHI) in your patient engagement efforts. By effectively leveraging PHI, you can create highly-targeted and personalized email marketing campaigns, which have greater potential to connect with your patients and customers – and drive your desired outcomes.

However, before diving in, it’s essential to be aware of HIPAA’s complex compliance requirements and how they govern healthcare organizations’ marketing communications. Chief among these considerations is the concept of PHI identifiers and the role they play in classifying and protecting sensitive patient data. With this in mind, let’s explore HIPAA’s 18 PHI identifiers

What is a PHI Identifier?

Before we detail the 18 different PHI identifiers, it’s crucial to first distinguish between what counts as PHI and what, in reality, is personally identifiable information (PII).

PHI (as well as its digital equivalent or electronic protected health information (ePHI)), is defined as “individually identifiable protected health information” and specifically refers to three classes of data:

  • An individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition.
  • The past, present, or future provisioning of health care to an individual.
  • The past, present, or future payment-related information for the provisioning of health care to an individual.

In short, for an individual’s PII to be classed as protected health information it must be related to a health condition, their healthcare provision, or the payment of that provision. So, a patient’s email address in isolation, for example, isn’t necessarily PHI. However when combined with any information about their healthcare – such as in a patient engagement email campaign – it would constitute PHI.

Put another way, as HIPAA is designed to enforce standards and best practices in the healthcare industry, it’s concerned with protecting health-related information. While the protection of general PII is of the utmost importance, that’s a significantly larger remit – and, consequently, one that’s shared by a variety of data privacy regulations covering different industries and regions (PCI-DSS, GDPR, etc.).

What are the 18 PHI Identifiers?

With the above background in mind, we now have a clearer understanding of what is classed as PHI and, as a result, what data needs to be de-identified. The HIPAA Privacy Rule provides two methods for the de-identification of PHI: the Expert Determination and Safe Harbour methods.

Expert Determination requires a statistical or scientific expert to assess the PHI and conclude that the risk of it being able to identify a particular patient is very low. Safe Harbour, meanwhile, involves systematically removing or securing specific data types to mitigate the risk of patient identification. It’s from the Safe Harbour method that we get the following 18 PHI identifiers:    

  • Patient Names
  • Geographical Elements: street address, city, and all other subdivisions lower than the state.
  • Dates Related to Patient’s ID or Health History: eD.O.B, D.O.D, admission and discharge dates, etc.
  • Telephone Numbers
  • Fax Numbers
  • Email Addresses
  • Social Security Numbers
  • Medical Record Numbers
  • Health Insurance Beneficiary Numbers
  • Account Numbers
  • Certificate or License Numbers: as these can confirm an individual’s professional qualifications or credentials, and when combined with PHI, are exploitable by malicious actors.
  • Vehicle Identifiers: i.e., license plate and serial numbers
  • Device Identifiers and Serial Numbers: those belonging to smartphones, tablets, or medical devices, because they communicate with healthcare companies during provision and can be linked back to the patient
  • Digital Identifiers: namely website addresses used by healthcare companies that patients may visit (for healthcare education, event registration, etc.)
  • Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses: the digital location from where a patient’s device accesses the internet; this can be used to acquire subsequent PHI
  • Biometric Identifiers: e.g., fingerprints, voice samples, etc.
  • Full Face Photographs: in additional to other comparable images
  • Other Unique Numbers, Codes, or Characteristics: not covered by the prior 17 categories

As illustrated by the above list, HIPAA’s list of PHI identifiers is comprehensive, covering all aspects of an individual’s identity and digital footprint. In light of this, when handling patient data it’s crucial to use platforms and digital solutions that have been designed with the secure transmission and storage of PHI in mind.

Harness the Benefits of Using PHI for Better Patient Engagement

As the most experienced provider of HIPAA-compliant communications, LuxSci specializes in secure email, text, marketing and forms for healthcare providers, payers and suppliers. LuxSci’s Secure Healthcare Communications suite offers flexible encryption, customizable security policies, and automated features to ensure HIPAA compliance and the protection of PHI data.

Interested in discovering how LuxSci’s solutions can help you securely engage with your patients and customers?

Contact us today!

 

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How to Improve Patient Engagement with Secure Communications

Tuesday, October 29th, 2024

As people demand more personalized experiences from their healthcare companies and providers, patient engagement is increasingly emerging as a top priority. With increasing demands for digital-first interactions and more connected healthcare journeys from their patients and customers, healthcare organizations must evolve their communication strategies to meet these new expectations. In fact, more than ever, today’s healthcare patients and customer expect the same efficient and personalized experiences that they have with other businesses, including retail and financial services.

In this article, we explore two key strategies for improving patient and customer engagement: employing a multi-channel approach and personalization. We’ll show you how each concept improves your communication strategy, while ensuring HIPAA compliance at the same time.

The Growing Importance of Patient Engagement

Today’s healthcare industry is undergoing significant changes – some might even call it outright disruption. With new and varied services like Telehealth, Remote Care, In-Home Care, Connected Care, Value-Based Care, and more, clear and targeted communication has never been more vital for effectively improving patient engagement and driving greater levels of participation in an individual’s healthcare journey.

Another key thing to bear in mind is that today’s patients and customers already have increasing expectations for convenient, personalized, and secure interactions with their healthcare providers. According to a report from McKinsey & Company, over 70% of patients prioritize the ability to communicate with their healthcare providers, payers and suppliers through their preferred channels. However, these preferences vary significantly across age groups, highlighting the importance of a multi-channel communication strategy; let’s explore those preferences now.

Patient Engagement Preferences by Age Group

The chart below, compiled from recent research findings, highlights the varying communication channel preferences by age group, helping healthcare companies craft their engagement strategies accordingly:

Channel
   Gen Z (18-25)
   Millennials (26-40)
   Baby Boomers (57-75)
Phone 10% 35% 55%
Email 20% 35% 45%
Text 40% 45% 15%
Patient Portals 30% 45% 25%
Face-to-Face 15% 25% 60%

 

By understanding these differences, healthcare organizations can implement and continually refine multi-channel marketing strategies that cater to the unique preferences of each demographic group. Key takeaways include:

  • Baby Boomers (57 – 75 years old) still prefer phone calls (55%) and face-to-face interactions (60%), though there is preference in email (45%) for certain types of communication, such as appointment reminders and post-care instructions.
  • Millennials (26 – 40 years old) tend to favor asynchronous methods that fit into their busy schedules, i.e., phone, text, and email. This age group is tech-savvy, with half also using patient portals for managing their healthcare options.
  • As digital natives, Gen Z patients lean heavily toward digital channels, with text messaging (40%) and patient portals (30%) as top choices. They, more than any other group, expect fast, responsive communication, which makes secure, real-time digital options essential.

Catering to patients’ communication channel preferences ensures they feel better heard and, as a result, more valued. This will result in them becoming more involved in their healthcare journey, leading to higher rates of satisfaction, being more receptive to new services or products, and, most importantly, better health outcomes.

Multi-Channel Communication: Meeting Patients Where They Are

Healthcare providers, payers and suppliers need a multi-channel strategy, that incorporates email, text, patient portals, and phone calls to match the different communication preferences of their diverse patient and customer bases.

A single-channel, or siloed, approach is far less effective, as each demographic interacts with healthcare providers in unique ways. In light of this, offering communication options across multiple channels makes it easier to reach patients – and for them to participate in their healthcare journeys on their preferred terms.

Benefits of multi-channel communication include:

  • Increased Engagement: Patients and customer are more likely to respond and engage through their preferred communication method, whether that’s by text, email, portal or over the phone.
  • Improved Satisfaction: receiving timely, personalized updates makes patients feel more connected and satisfied with care.
  • Better Adherence to Care Plans: patients who receive reminders or follow-ups through their preferred channels are more likely to adhere to care plans, attend appointments, and follow medical advice.
  • Upselling and Cross-Selling Opportunities: when healthcare providers and suppliers connect with patients and customers over the channel of their choice they are more likely to reach their target audience and attract qualified prospects for new services and products, as well as upgrades to existing ones.

Take Personalization Further by Using PHI in Communications

After unprecedented numbers of people were forced to adapt to digital solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, personalization is no longer optional or “a nice to have” – but an expectation among patients and customers. The healthcare industry is no exception to this with personalized communications greatly enhancing efficiency and driving favorable outcomes.

Securely harnessing protected health information (PHI) is critical to effective personalization across a broad range of use cases, including care management, marketing and preventative care. It’s important to appreciate, however, that personalization in healthcare engagement goes beyond merely addressing patients by their names; it includes tailoring messages, reminders, renewals, recommendations, and offers based on their medical history, treatment plans, personal characteristics (age, gender, etc.), and ongoing health needs.

Examples of PHI-driven personalization include:

  • Appointment Reminders: personalized reminders based on the patient’s treatment plan can reduce no-show rates.
  • Post-Procedure Follow-Ups: securely sending follow-up instructions and health updates specific to the patient’s condition leads to better adherence and recovery rates.
  • Targeted Preventative Care Campaigns: using patient data to create campaigns around vaccinations, screenings, annual tests, or chronic disease management helps address individual health needs.
  • Marketing campaigns: delivering targeted campaigns to highly segmented groups of patients and customers, e.g., offers for the latest in-home blood pressure monitor for patients suffering from hypertension.

However, using PHI in communications requires strict adherence to HIPAA regulations and a broad set of data security safeguards and best practices. LuxSci’s Secure Healthcare Communications Suite enables healthcare organizations to safely use PHI in digital communications, ensuring compliance for email, text, marketing and data collection forms, while providing all the required functionality for personalizing your communications to create the desired impact. 

Why Secure Healthcare Communication is Crucial

Data breaches in the healthcare industry are consistently on the rise, and, unfortunately, they show no signs of abating. In fact, between 2009 and 2023, healthcare data breaches resulted in the exposure of more than a half billion patient records.  Healthcare companies are prime targets for cyberattacks, because of the sensitivity of the data they possess and the critical importance of their services.

Consequently, the fines for healthcare companies that fail to sufficiently protect PHI and fall victim to data breaches can extend into the millions.  The reputation damage, however, can be far more costly, with it often being beyond repair.

LuxSci is the most experienced provider of HIPAA-compliant email and secure healthcare communication solutions, working with organizations of all sizes: from local and regional practices to large healthcare systems, providers and suppliers, including Athenahealth, Delta Dental, 1800 Contacts, and Rotech Healthcare.

Our comprehensive HIPAA-compliant communications platform includes:

  • HIPAA-Compliant Email: send millions of secure emails every month with our Secure High Volume Email solution, or make your Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 email HIPAA-compliant with our Secure Gateway Product
  • Secure Text Messaging: reach patients quickly and securely with appointment reminders, health updates, and other communications via text. Connect them directly into their patient portals via their desktop or mobile device —with no application installation required.
  • Secure Marketing: proactively connect with your customers with HIPAA-compliant email marketing campaigns for increased engagement, lead generation and sales.
  • Secure Forms: safely collect, store, access and analyze PHI data from patients to optimize workflows and generate insights that allow you to refine your long-term strategies.

If you’d like to learn more about how to take your patient and customer engagement to the next level, all while remaining compliant with HIPAA regulations, contact us today!

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New Email Tracking Features Deliver More Accurate Engagement Insights

Monday, October 14th, 2024

Today, we’re excited to announce two new reporting features designed to help healthcare organizations improve reporting accuracy and the overall effectiveness of their email campaigns. The new features offer deeper insights into Apple Mail and Google email performance by distinguishing between opens and clicks performed by human actions and automated events — and by giving users control over how these events are reflected in LuxSci email campaign reporting.

Let’s dive into what these features are and how they can help you get more precise data from your healthcare email marketing and communications efforts.

Feature 1: Enhanced Open and Click Tracking – Human vs. Automated

One of the biggest challenges in email tracking today is the rise of automated systems that pre-load images and scan links in emails. Automated systems can trigger open or click events without the recipient actually interacting with the email, leading to inflated and misleading open/click rates.

With LuxSci’s new enhanced open and click tracking, you can now tell whether Apple Mail and Google emails (Gmail and Google Workspace) were opened or a link was clicked by a human or by an automated system. This crucial distinction allows you to have a much clearer picture of actual user engagement.

Here’s how it works:

  • When emails are sent with open tracking enabled, a small tracking image (also known as a pixel) is embedded in the email. When that image is loaded, the system tracks the email as “opened.”
  • Similarly, links in the email are encoded to track clicks. If a recipient clicks a link, it triggers a “clicked” event, but these events can also be triggered by automated systems.
  • LuxSci’s enhanced open and click tracking feature analyzes these events and reports whether the actions were performed by a human or an automated system, helping you sift through false positives.

Feature 2: Suppressing Automated Events in Your Reporting

In addition to tracking the source of open and click events, LuxSci’s second new feature gives you the option to exclude automated events from Apple Mail and Google email from your email engagement statistics altogether. This setting, available in account-wide outbound email settings, is a powerful tool for ensuring the accuracy of your reports and understanding true user engagement.

Here’s how it works:

  • Automated opens and clicks can be removed from email reporting for better accuracy. For example, if a security bot clicks a link, that event will be logged, but it won’t mark the email as “clicked” in your statistics.
  • Your open, click, and click-through rates can be set to only reflect real human actions, making these metrics much more reliable for evaluating campaign performance and actual patient engagement.

Why These Features Matter for Healthcare Email Marketing

For healthcare organizations, reliable metrics are essential. Emails often carry critical information related to patient care, transactions, or marketing, and understanding who is engaging with your content is critical to ongoing improvement and long-term success. At the same time, automated actions can inflate your open and click rates, leading to inaccurate conclusions about your email performance.

LuxSci’s new features give you the power to:

  • Track email engagement with precision: Know the difference between human engagement and automated actions, so your metrics reflect reality.
  • Customize your reporting: Decide whether you want to include or suppress automated events in your reports.
  • Improve deliverability strategies: By analyzing which emails are genuinely opened or clicked by real people, you can fine-tune your email campaigns to maximize their effectiveness.

Ready to Enhance Your Email Tracking?

Take control of your email deliverability insights with LuxSci’s newest email tracking tools. Whether you want to gain deeper insights into recipient behavior or eliminate noise from automated systems, these features are designed to help you improve your email reporting, performance and engagement.

For current LuxSci customers, you can learn more about these features in the Support Library, under Support, when you are logged into your account.

If you’re new to LuxSci, reach out today and we’d be happy show you the power of our secure, HIPAA-complaint healthcare communications solutions, including high volume email, text, forms and marketing solutions. Contact us here.

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