Google Workspace is one of the world’s most popular email platforms. Although it is more than adequate for basic email correspondence, Gmail does not come configured to meet HIPAA email security requirements. To use Google Workspace in a HIPAA-compliant manner, you need to use a third-party connector to secure your communications.
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Medical laboratories use LuxSci’s secure services to email lab test results to patients. Although medical laboratories are not always HIPAA Covered Entities themselves, they are Business Associates with hospitals and doctors who are required to abide by HIPAA. By the “transitive” nature of the HIPAA privacy laws, Business Associates must abide by HIPAA security and privacy standards, protect patient data, and ensure confidentiality.
In order to send patients their results via email, these labs must use a HIPAA-compliant system that can send email to anyone with an email address. We work with labs to securely send Covid-19 test results, cancer screening results, and many other kinds of medical test results via email.
This post describes how one large medical lab uses LuxSci’s Secure High Volume Email sending service to safely deliver lab results to thousands of people every day.
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One common misconception is that sending emails to a list of recipients using BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) makes it HIPAA-compliant. For example, a doctor’s office sends a newsletter to its patients using BCC to hide the other recipients. Patients who receive a message sent via BCC cannot see who else received it. Some may think this email does not contain any identifiable information because the individual recipients are hidden. They assume the messages do not contain any “electronic protected health information” (ePHI) subject to HIPAA regulations.
However, BCC is not good enough to protect ePHI.
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Segmentation and personalization are powerful marketing tactics that are widely used across all industries. It is well-documented that marketers who send emails that are segmented and personalized experience much higher open and click rates. However, when healthcare marketers want to use these tactics, they must be aware of HIPAA! Any message that contains ePHI must be protected. In the past, these regulations made it difficult to send bulk marketing messages beyond generic office newsletters. However, using ePHI to segment and personalize marketing campaigns is possible!
To leverage patient data and create highly engaging and effective email campaigns that do not compromise security, marketers must use a HIPAA-compliant email marketing solution. We will walk you through how to use ePHI to segment and personalize healthcare marketing emails and improve your patient engagement.
Every campaign starts with identifying the target audience. When you use segmentation, you simply break down your email list into smaller subsets based on shared characteristics. The benefit of segmenting a list based on shared data is that you can adjust your messaging to speak more directly to that group of customers. When you are using a HIPAA-compliant marketing solution, you can segment your list using any data that you have from your patients (make sure you obtain appropriate permissions and opt-ins first!), including ePHI.
Some examples of ways you can break down your lists using ePHI include:
The possibilities are only limited by the data that you collect.
Once you have identified who the email is going to, the next step for sending an engaging email is to personalize the content for that audience. Much like segmentation, the possibilities for personalizing emails are only limited by the data that you collect. Anything that you can do to make the email feel like it’s a 1:1 communication instead of a generic blast email will increase the likelihood that it will be opened and engaged with by your target.
The most common way to personalize an email is by using the person’s name in the subject line or email greeting. However, personalization can go much deeper when you also segment the list with ePHI. When you narrow down your list, it is much easier to create campaigns that appeal to the audience with relevant content and targeted promotions. A good example would be offering free breast cancer screenings for women during October. Men would be unlikely to engage with that email, because the subject matter is not relevant to them. By sending the email to only women of a certain age bracket, you are likely to increase the response rate and not irritate others on your list by sending them unnecessary information.
Other ways you can personalize emails with ePHI include:
Say we are auditing some patient data and realize that in our patient population, men at risk for diabetes are much less likely to schedule up a follow up appointment. As a result, this group is becoming much sicker than they otherwise would with early intervention. How can we reach this population? By using ePHI to segment and personalize an email campaign just for them.
First, we create a segment based on the pattern we observed: men who are over 40 with elevated A1C levels at their last test.
Then, the marketing team can create personalized content like blogs, white papers, or guides designed specifically to influence the segment’s behavior. One email in the campaign might look something like this:
“Dear [first name],
During your last visit on [last appointment date], your A1C levels were elevated, which indicates that you are at a higher risk of developing diabetes. Download our guide with nutritional advice and example meal plans designed to help control your blood sugar.”
Perhaps the nutritional guide mentioned in this email example has a call to action that invites readers to schedule a free consultation with a dietician to learn more about dietary changes they can make to prevent diabetes.
Likewise, by segmenting the audience, you can create personalized offers that are more likely to drive the behavior you want. In this example, maybe you offer discounted rounds of golf to anyone who joins a men’s diabetes support group.
Best of all, with email marketing, you can create these emails at scale. You do not need to write individual emails to each of the patients that falls into this segment. You can use personalization tags to automatically pull in the information you have uploaded to the platform. As you see in the example above, where it says “[first name]” and “[last appointment date]” the platform will pull in the corresponding information tied to each unique email address, saving you time and improving your email performance. This is an advanced technique, but most email marketing platforms include this capability. Once again, make sure you are using a HIPAA-compliant platform before uploading any medical information.
It’s important to find a vendor that will allow you to use these techniques without violating HIPAA. Many of the most common vendors like Constact Contact and Mailchimp are only quasi-compliant at best. Do your research, sign a BAA, and ask the right questions to ensure you can send ePHI in any email you send.
Email and text messaging are among the most common forms of business communication. However, if you are sending ePHI, regular texts and emails are off limits! If you are subject to HIPAA regulations, you will need mutual consent from your patients before sending ePHI insecurely via these methods.
This may seem frustrating because text and email are easy and switching to a secure service can feel like a lot of work. However, when ePHI is mishandled it can have significant repercussions. Personal information can be stolen, made public, and even used in fraud.
Text messaging and normal email carry significant risks to ePHI, because they aren’t designed to be secure. While it is best to only send ePHI over secure services, there may be instances where the patient wants to communicate over these insecure methods. Because of the risks, your organization needs signed mutual consent waivers to proceed with insecure communication.
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