Is the Email Encrypted? How to Tell if an Email is Transmitted Using TLS

Business Solutions, HIPAA Compliant Email, HIPAA Email Marketing
LuxSci
January 9, 2024

SMTP TLS encryption is popular because it provides adequate data protection without creating a complicated user experience for email recipients. Sometimes, though, the experience is too seamless, and recipients may wonder if the message was protected at all.

Luckily, there is a way to tell if an email was encrypted using TLS. To see if a message was sent securely, we can look at the raw headers of the email. However, it requires some knowledge and experience to understand the text. It is actually easier to tell if a recipient’s server supports TLS than to tell if a particular message was securely transmitted.

To analyze a message for transmission security, we will look at an example email message sent from Hotmail to LuxSci. We will explain what to look for when decoding the message headers and how to tell if the email was transmitted using TLS encryption.

An Example Email Message

First, we must understand how an email message typically travels through several machines on its way from the sender to the recipient. Roughly speaking:

The sender’s computer talks to the sender’s email or WebMail server to upload the message.
The sender’s email or WebMail server then talks to the recipient’s inbound email server and transmits the message to them.
Finally, the recipient downloads the message from their email server.

It is step 2 that people are most concerned about when trying to understand if their email message is transmitted securely. They usually assume or check that everything is secure and OK at the two ends. Indeed, most users who need to can take steps to ensure that they are using SSL-enabled WebMail or POP/IMAP/SMTP/Exchange services so that steps 1 and 3 are secure. The intermediate step, where the email is transmitted between two different providers, is where messages may be sent insecurely.

To determine if the message was transmitted securely between the sender’s and recipient’s servers (over TLS), we need to extract the “Received” header lines from the received email message. If you look at the source of the email message, the lines at the top start with “Received.” Let’s look at an example message from a Hotmail user below. The email addresses, IPs, and other information are obviously fake.

LuxSci:

The Outlook email was sent to a LuxSci user. The Received headers appear in reverse chronological order, starting with the server that touched the message last. Therefore, in this example, we see the LuxSci servers first.

Received: from abc.luxsci.com ([1.1.1.1])
	by def.luxsci.com (8.14.4/8.13.8) with ESMTP id r7JEfLgH003867
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT)
	for <user-xyz@def.luxsci.com>; Mon, 19 Aug 2019 10:41:21 -0400
Received: from abc.luxsci.com (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1])
	by abc.luxsci.com (8.14.4/8.13.8) with ESMTP id r7JEfK0Z030182
	for <user-xyz@def.luxsci.com>; Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:41:20 -0500
Received: (from mail@localhost)
	by abc.luxsci.com (8.14.4/8.13.8/Submit) id r7JEfKXD030178
	for user-xyz@def.luxsci.com; Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:41:20 -0500

Received: from dispatch1-us1.ppe-hosted.com (dispatch1-us1.ppe-hosted.com [2.2.2.2])
	by abc.luxsci.com (8.14.4/8.13.8) with ESMTP id r7JEfIkK030002
	(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT)
	for <someone@luxsci.net>; Mon, 19 Aug 2019 09:41:19 -0500

Proofpoint:

LuxSci uses an email filtering service, Proofpoint. Messages reach Proofpoint’s servers before being delivered to LuxSci. Here’s what their servers report about the email transmission:

Received: from unknown [65.54.190.216] (EHLO bay0-omc4-s14.bay0.hotmail.com)
	by dispatch1-us1.ppe-hosted.com.ppe-hosted.com
        (envelope-from <someone@hotmail.com>);
	Mon, 19 Aug 2019 08:41:18 -0600 (MDT)

Outlook:

And finally, here’s what we see from Oultook’s server.

Received: from BAY403-EAS373 ([65.54.190.199]) by bay0-omc4-s14.bay0.outlook.com
       with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4675); 
       Mon, 19 Aug 2019 07:41:19 -0700

How to Use Received Message Headers to Tell if the Email is Encrypted

The message headers contain information that can help us determine if an email is encrypted. Here are a few helpful notes to help you decode the text:

We said this above, but the message headers appear in reverse chronological order. The first one listed shows the last server that touched the message; the last one is the first server that touched it (typically the sending server).
Each Received line documents what a server did and when.
There are three sets of servers involved in this example: one machine at Hotmail, one machine at Proofpoint, where our Premium Email Filtering takes place, and some machines at LuxSci, where final acceptance of the message and subsequent delivery happened.

Presumably, the processing of email within each provider is secure. The place to be concerned about is the hand-offs between Hotmail and Proofpoint and between Proofpoint and LuxSci, as these are the big hops across the internet between providers.

In the line where LuxSci accepts the message from Proofpoint, we see:

(version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT)

This section, typical of most email servers running “sendmail” with TLS support, indicates that the message was encrypted during transport with TLS using 256-bit AES encryption. (“Verify=not” means that LuxSci did not ask Proofpoint for a second SSL client certificate to verify itself, as that is not usually needed or required for SMTP TLS to work correctly). Also, “TLSv1/SSLv3” is a tag that means that “Some version of SSL or TLS was used;” it does not mean that it was SSL v3 or TLS v1.0. It could have been TLS v1.2 or TLS v1.3.

So, the hop between Proofpoint and LuxSci was locked down and secure. What about the hop between Hotmail and Proofpoint? The Proofpoint server’s Received line makes no note of security at all! This means that the email message was probably not encrypted during this step.

Hotmail either did not support opportunistic TLS encryption for outbound emails, or Proofpoint did not support receipt of messages over TLS, and thus, TLS could not be used. With additional context, you can know which server supports TLS and which does not.

In this case, we know that Proofpoint supports inbound TLS encryption. In fact, from another example message where LuxSci sent a message to Proofpoint, we see the Received line:

Received: from unknown [44.44.44.44] (EHLO wgh.luxsci.com)
	by dispatch1-us1.ppe-hosted.com.ppe-hosted.com
        (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits))
	with ESMTP id b-022.p01c11m003.ppe-hosted.com
        (envelope-from <from@domain.com>);
	Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:28:27 -0700 (MST)

The red text makes it clear that the message was indeed encrypted. Based on the additional context, we can deduce that the Hotmail sending server did not securely transmit the email using TLS.

How To Tell if an Email is Encrypted With TLS

When analyzing your message headers, consider the following items to determine if the email is encrypted:
1. The receiving server will log what kind of encryption, if any, was used in receiving the message in the headers.
2. Different email servers use different formats and syntax to display the encryption used. Look for keywords like “SSL,” “TLS,” and “Encryption,” which will signify this information.
3. Not all servers will record the use of encryption. While LuxSci has always logged encryption use, not every email service provider does. It is possible to use TLS encryption and not log it. Sometimes, there is no way to tell from the headers if a message is encrypted if it is not logged.
4. Messages passed between servers at the same provider do not necessarily need TLS encryption to be secure. For example, LuxSci has back-channel private network connections between many servers so that information can be securely passed between them without SMTP TLS. So, the lack of TLS usage between two servers does not mean the transmission between them was “insecure.” You may also see multiple received lines listing the same server: the server passes the message between different processes within itself. This communication also does not need to be TLS encrypted.
5. If you are a LuxSci customer, you can view online email delivery reports to see if TLS was used for any particular message. We record the kind of encryption in the delivery reports, so it’s easy to see which emails were encrypted.

How can you Ensure Emails Are Securely Transmitted?

With some servers not recording TLS in message headers, how can you determine if a message was transmitted securely from sender to recipient?

To answer this question accurately, you must understand the properties, servers, and networks involved. It may be easy to determine that the message was transmitted securely if included in the header information. However, the absence of information does not necessarily mean the message was insecurely transmitted. You can only know this if you know what each system’s servers record.

In our example of a message from Hotmail to LuxSci, you need to know that:

Proofpoint and LuxSci will always log the use of TLS in the headers. We can infer that the Hotmail to Proofpoint transmission was not secure as nothing was recorded there.
The transmission of messages within LuxSci’s infrastructure is secure due to private back channel transmissions. So, even though there is no mention of TLS in every Received line after LuxSci accepts the message from Proofpoint (in this example), transferring the messages between servers in LuxSci is as secure as using TLS. Also, the same server can add multiple received lines as it talks to itself. Generally, these hand-offs on the same server will not use TLS, as there is no need. In the LuxSci example, we see this as “abc.luxsci.com” adds several headers.
We don’t know anything about Hotmail’s email servers, so we don’t know how secure the initial transmissions within their network are. However, since we know they did not securely transmit the message to Proofpoint, we are not confident that the transmissions and processing within Hotmail (which may have gone unrecorded) were secure.

Was the email message sent and received using encryption?

We skipped steps 1 and 3 and focused on step 2 – the transmission between servers. Steps 1 and 3 are equally, if not more, necessary. Why? Because eavesdropping on the internet between ISPs is less of a problem than eavesdropping near the sender and recipient (i.e., in their workplace or local wireless hotspot). So, it’s essential to ensure messages are sent securely and received securely. This means:

Sending: Use SMTP over SSL or TLS when sending messages from an email client or use WebMail over a secure connection (HTTPS).
Receiving: Ensure your POP or IMAP connection is secured via SSL or TLS. If using WebMail to read your email, be sure it is over a secure connection (HTTPS).
WebMail: There is generally no record in the email headers to indicate if a message sent using WebMail was transmitted from the end-user to WebMail over a secure connection (SSL/HTTPS).

You can typically control one side and ensure it is secure; you can’t control the other without taking extra steps. So, what can you do to ensure your message is secure even if it might not be transmitted with encryption or if the recipient tries to access it insecurely?

You could use end-to-end email encryption (like PGP or S/MIME, which are included in SecureLine) or a secure web portal that doesn’t require the recipient to install or set up anything to get your secure email message. These methods meet HIPAA and other regulatory compliance requirements for secure data transmission and provide complete confidence that the message will be sent and received securely.

LuxSci’s SecureLine offers flexible encryption options, including TLS, secure web portal, PGP, and S/MIME. Its dynamic capabilities can determine what types of encryption the recipient’s server supports to ensure your emails are always sent securely. Contact our team today to learn more about how to secure your emails.

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Is OCR Already Enforcing Email Encryption Under the New HIPAA Security Rule?

May 12, 2026
Pete Wermter

Healthcare organizations waiting for the final HIPAA Security Rule updates before improving email encryption and security may already be behind.

While the proposed changes to the HIPAA Security Rule are expected to be finalized in May, the direction from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is becoming increasingly clear. Across investigations, settlements, and enforcement actions, OCR continues emphasizing stronger technical safeguards, encryption, documented security programs, multi-factor authentication (MFA), risk analysis, and proactive cybersecurity operations.

For healthcare organizations, one area stands directly in the middle of all of these priorities: email.

Email remains a primary communication channel in healthcare — and one of the industry’s largest security vulnerabilities. From unauthorized PHI exposure to phishing attacks and ransomware delivery to account compromise, email continues to be at the center of healthcare cybersecurity incidents.

So, are the proposed HIPAA Security Rule changes hypothetical future guidance or a preview of OCR’s future enforcement expectations?

For healthcare email security, the implications are significant.

Email = Healthcare Cybersecurity Risk

Healthcare organizations rely on email for critical communications and healthcare workflows, including:

Patient communications
Care coordination
Claims and billing notifications
Marketing and engagement
Internal collaboration
Third-party vendor communications
Delivery of sensitive PHI

At the same time, attackers continue targeting email systems because they remain one of the easiest entry points into healthcare environments.

Insecure email workflows create unnecessary exposure of protected health information. Phishing campaigns are becoming more sophisticated. Credential theft attacks are bypassing traditional MFA methods. And business email compromise (BEC) attacks continue rising.

Recent OCR enforcement actions increasingly reflect these realities.

Organizations are being evaluated not simply on whether a breach occurred, but whether they implemented reasonable safeguards beforehand, including encryption, authentication controls, monitoring, access management, and documented risk mitigation processes.

For email systems specifically, that means healthcare organizations should expect increased scrutiny around:

Email encryption enforcement
MFA deployment
Audit logging and retention
Conditional access policies
Vendor security controls
Secure email delivery best practices
Segmentation and infrastructure isolation
Ongoing patch and vulnerability management

In many ways, email infrastructure is becoming a visible test of an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture.

Email Encryption Is Moving From Addressable to Required

Historically, healthcare organizations often interpreted HIPAA email encryption requirements with flexibility because encryption was technically categorized as an “addressable” safeguard under the Security Rule. But, OCR enforcement and broader cybersecurity realities are changing that interpretation rapidly.

Today, failing to encrypt sensitive healthcare communications increasingly creates both security and regulatory risk. The proposed Security Rule updates place even greater emphasis on encryption and technical safeguards. At the same time, OCR investigations continue examining whether organizations properly protected PHI in transit and at rest.

For healthcare email specifically, this creates several growing expectations:

Email encryption should be automated wherever possible
Human error should not determine whether PHI is protected
Organizations should maintain documented encryption policies
Secure delivery methods should adapt dynamically to recipient capabilities
Audit trails should demonstrate how messages were secured

At LuxSci, we have long believed that encryption should operate as a strategic layer of healthcare communications infrastructure, not as a manual user decision.

Our SecureLine email encryption technology automatically applies appropriate encryption methods based on organizational policies and delivery requirements, helping reduce the risks associated with human error while maintaining usability, deliverability and compliance. As enforcement expectations rise, this type of automated security enforcement is becoming increasingly important.

Traditional MFA May No Longer Be Enough

Another major shift emerging from both OCR enforcement trends and the proposed rule updates is the growing importance of stronger authentication models.

Healthcare organizations have historically viewed MFA deployment as sufficient protection. But attackers have adapted quickly.

MFA bypass attacks, token theft, session hijacking, and consent phishing campaigns are increasingly targeting healthcare users. As a result, regulators and cybersecurity experts are placing greater emphasis on phishing-resistant authentication approaches and contextual access controls.

For email environments, organizations should increasingly evaluate:

Whether MFA methods are resistant to phishing attacks
Conditional access policies based on device, location, and behavior
Account monitoring and anomaly detection
Administrative access protections
Session management controls
Logging and authentication auditing

The broader message is clear: healthcare organizations need authentication strategies designed for today’s threat landscape, not yesterday’s compliance checklist.

OCR Wants Proof, Not Just Policies

One of the clearest trends emerging from recent OCR activity is the increasing importance of documentation and operational evidence. Healthcare organizations must increasingly demonstrate not only that safeguards exist, but that they are consistently enforced, monitored, tested, and maintained over time.

For email systems, organizations should be prepared to demonstrate:

Email encryption policies
MFA enforcement records
Audit logs and message tracking
Vendor security documentation
Risk assessments involving email infrastructure
Patch management procedures
Employee security awareness training
Incident response procedures for email-based threats

This represents a broader shift in healthcare cybersecurity expectations.

The question is no longer: “Do you have email security controls?”

The question is increasingly: “Can you prove they are operationally effective?”

Healthcare Organizations Need a New Email Security Strategy

The healthcare industry is entering a new phase of cybersecurity enforcement.

OCR’s direction is becoming increasingly clear: organizations are expected to proactively secure systems handling PHI using modern, documented, and continuously maintained safeguards. For email security specifically, that means organizations should stop treating encryption, MFA, and secure communications as optional compliance requirements. Instead, they should view secure email infrastructure as a strategic component of enterprise cybersecurity and patient trust.

At LuxSci, we help healthcare organizations modernize secure communications with HIPAA compliant email infrastructure designed specifically for healthcare environments, including flexible encryption, secure delivery, auditability, high deliverability, access controls, and dedicated infrastructure options.

The proposed HIPAA Security Rule updates may not yet be final. But, OCR is already signaling where healthcare cybersecurity enforcement is headed next. For organizations relying on email to communicate with patients, members, customers, and partners, the time to examine your secure email infrastructure is now.

Connect with our experts to learn more using the form at the top of this page!

LuxSci Launches Enterprise-Grade HIPAA Compliant Email Security for Mid-Sized Healthcare Organizations

May 5, 2026
Pete Wermter

New right-sized offering brings advanced encryption, easy API integration, and HITRUST-certified compliance to the most underserved segment in healthcare email — with pricing starting at $99/month

CAMBRIDGE, MA — May 5, 2026 — LuxSci, a leading provider of HIPAA compliant secure healthcare communications, today announced the launch of LuxSci Secure High Volume Email for mid-sized healthcare organizations, the industry’s trusted HIPPA-compliant email solution now packaged and priced for mid-size healthcare organizations. Regional health systems, health plans, specialty group practices, urgent care networks, and multi-site regional providers can now access LuxSci’s enterprise-grade email security and encryption infrastructure at published, volume-based pricing — with no custom quote required.

LuxSci Secure High Volume Email for mid-sized healthcare organizations delivers the same HITRUST CSF r2-certified email security and flexible encryption capabilities that power communications for some of the largest healthcare organizations in the industry, including Athenahealth, 1-800 Contacts, Hinge Health and Eurofins. The new LuxSci mid-sized offer is tiered and priced for organizations with email sending volumes of between 300 and 99,000 emails per month.

LuxSci Secure High Volume Email is built on the company’s proprietary SecureLine™ encryption technology, which automatically selects the optimal email encryption method — TLS, secure portal fallback, PGP, or S/MIME — on a per-recipient basis at the time of delivery, with no action required from senders or recipients. This intelligent, adaptive encryption method goes significantly beyond TLS-only or portal fallback models offered by basic platforms, giving mid-market healthcare organizations the flexibility and cybersecurity depth they need as HIPAA regulations tighten and email threats continue to get more sophisticated.

Key capabilities include:

Automatic email encryption via SecureLine™ — encrypt every email and its content, including Protected Health Information (PHI), with per-recipient adaptive encryption across TLS, portal fallback, PGP, and S/MIME.
Advanced REST API with webhooks for dataflows into your systems — supports unlimited messages/hour with failover, queuing, plus webhooks can push email engagement data back to EHRs, CRMs, RCM and customer data platforms.
Comprehensive audit logging and reporting — message-level tracking, delivery status, engagement reporting, and downloadable reports for compliance officers.
HITRUST CSF r2 certification, BAA, GDPR-compliant, and US-EU Privacy Framework agreement all included.
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace overlay — use LuxSci’s Secure Email Gateway add-on to integrate directly with existing M365 or Google Workspace environments, adding HIPAA-compliant encryption without migration or user retraining.
HIPAA-compliant patient engagement — secure outbound email campaigns with PHI-powered hyper-segmentation, automated workflows, and personalized emails for marketing campaigns, proactive patient communications, appointment reminders, care gap outreach, new plan enrollments, healthcare education, and more — with LuxSci Secure Marketing add-on.

New Published LuxSci Pricing

LuxSci Secure High Volume Emai for mid-sized healthcare organizations features published pricing based on monthly sending volume:

Monthly Send Volume	Monthly Price
300 to 9,999 emails/month	$99/month
10,000 – 29,999 emails/month	$199/month
30,000 – 49,999 emails/month	$299/month
50,000 – 99,999 emails/month	$399/month
100,000+ emails/month	Custom

“Mid-size healthcare organizations have been underserved for too long, forced to choose between inadequate email security tools that weren’t built for healthcare and HIPAA compliance and enterprise level solutions that felt too big or too complex,” said Mark Leanord, CEO of LuxSci. “Our new secure email packaging for mid-sized organizations changes that. We’re making the same encryption depth, ease of integration into EHRs, CRMs and other systems, and compliance rigor that powers our largest customers accessible for mid-sized organizations to easily evaluate and buy.”

Timing and Market Context

The launch comes at a critical moment for mid-size healthcare organizations. The HHS HIPAA Security Rule overhaul, expected to finalize in mid-2026, is anticipated to mandate email encryption as a required safeguard, elevating email security from addressable best practice to a regulatory requirement for thousands of organizations that have not yet upgraded their email security and compliance posture. LuxSci secure email is designed to meet these requirements, backed by HITRUST CSF r2 certification and the company’s 20-year track record in secure healthcare communications.

Availability

LuxSci Secure Email for mid-sized healthcare organizations is available immediately. Pricing and product details are published here.

Users can contact LuxSci to set up a call or DEMO.

About LuxSci

LuxSci is a leading provider of secure healthcare communications solutions for the healthcare industry. The company offers secure email, marketing, forms and hosting, delivering HIPAA‑compliant communication solutions that enable organizations to safely manage and transmit sensitive data, including protected health information (PHI). Founded in 1999 and recently merged with digital care and telehealth provider Ovia Health, LuxSci serves more than 2,000 customers across healthcare verticals, including providers, payers, suppliers, and healthcare retail, home care providers, and healthcare systems, as well as organizations operating in other highly regulated industries. LuxSci is HITRUST‑certified with current customers including Athenahealth, 1800 Contacts, Lucerna Health, Eurofins, and Rotech Healthcare, among others.

###

Media Contact:
Pete Wermter, CMO

pwermter@luxsci.com

Patient Engagement ROI: The Business Case for Secure Email in Healthcare

April 28, 2026
Pete Wermter

Every IT investment in healthcare today is being evaluated through a sharper lens.

Budgets are tighter. Expectations are higher. AI is the shiny object. Across healthcare organizations, leadership is asking the same question: how does this investment drive measurable results?

That’s where Patient Engagement ROI comes in, and where many traditional approaches fall short.

The Hidden Cost of Ineffective Communication

Patient engagement isn’t just a healthcare priority. It’s a financial one.

Missed appointments, gaps in care, and low response rates all translate directly into increased costs, operational inefficiencies, and a poor patient experience. Yet many organizations still rely on fragmented, manual, or non-personalized communication strategies.

Why?

For many, it’s because of uncertainty around HIPAA compliance, and what’s allowed and not allowed. Too often, healthcare IT and marketing teams avoid using valuable patient data to avoid security and compliance risks, especially over the email channel. The result is often generic outreach that fails to connect, and fails to deliver meaningful results, such as better health outcomes, fewer missed appointments, and increased sales.

How Secure Email Delivers ROI in Healthcare

Among all healthcare IT investments, secure email stands out for one reason: it directly impacts both patient engagement and staff and process efficiency.

With the right HIPAA-compliant marketing automation platform, secure email enables organizations to:

Deliver personalized, relevant messages using PHI data in their emails
Automate outreach at scale with triggered, engagement-driven campaigns
Improve patient response rates and adherence for better outcomes
Reduce manual workload across teams for greater productivity

This is where patient engagement ROI becomes tangible.

Instead of one-size-fits-all messaging, organizations can connect with patients based on unique needs and health conditions, such as appointments, care plans, preventative care reminders, new product needs, and more. And because it’s automated, these improvements scale without adding to workloads.

Turning Compliance into Better Outcomes and Growth

HIPAA is often viewed as a constraint. In reality, it’s an opportunity. If you have the right tools.

At LuxSci, we focus exclusively on secure healthcare communications, helping organizations safely unlock the value of their data and communications. Our solutions are designed to remove the friction between compliance and communication, so you don’t have to choose between security and growth.

With capabilities like flexible encryption, advanced segmentation, and high-volume delivery, secure email marketing becomes more than a safeguard, it becomes a growth driver.

And with industry-leading security performance and recognition, organizations can trust that their communications are protected at every level with LuxSci.

Scaling Patient Engagement ROI with Automation

The real power of secure email comes when it’s combined with automated healthcare workflows.

HIPAA compliant marketing automation allows you to build multi-step, data-driven patient journeys that run continuously in the background, taking adaptive steps based on each individual’s email engagement activity. This can include:

Appointment reminders that reduce no-shows
Follow-up communications that improve outcomes
Preventative care outreach for check-ups, annual test and care reminders
New product offers, upgrades and promotions
Educational email campaigns that drive long-term engagement and better health

Each interaction is an opportunity to improve both patient experience and your financial performance. Over time, these incremental gains compound, resulting in significantly higher patient engagement that delivers real value to your business.

Why Act Now?

Healthcare organizations can no longer afford IT investments that don’t deliver clear, measurable value. Secure email, powered by HIPAA compliant marketing automation, offers one of the most direct paths to improving engagement, efficiency, and outcomes, all while maintaining the highest standards of security.

Ready to see how LuxSci secure email can transform your patient engagement into real ROI?

Connect with us today or book a demo to explore how HITRUST-certified, HIPAA-compliant marketing automation can work for your organization.

What Is B2B Marketing in Healthcare?

April 27, 2026
Erik Kangas

B2B marketing in healthcare describes the promotion of products and services to healthcare businesses rather than to patients or the public. The audience can include provider groups, payers, laboratories, medical suppliers, health technology firms, and service companies working across the sector. The work calls for a more measured approach than many other business categories because buying decisions tend to involve several stakeholders, internal review, and close attention to data handling, workflow impact, and commercial fit. Good execution depends on clear communication, useful content, and a strong sense of how healthcare organizations evaluate change.

Why healthcare buying requires a different approach

Healthcare companies rarely move through a buying process in a straight line. One person may open the conversation, though several others can influence whether it goes any further. Finance may want a clearer commercial case. Operations may focus on staffing, efficiency, and implementation pressure. IT may look at access, system fit, and data management. Compliance teams may review privacy implications or contractual language. B2B marketing in healthcare works better when the writing reflects those realities early. Buyers are looking for material that helps them assess risk, discuss options internally, and move forward with fewer unanswered questions.

A Difference in stakeholder priorities

A single account can contain several audiences at once. That is part of what makes this area demanding. A hospital operations leader may care about throughput and day to day workflow. A payer executive may be more interested in administrative efficiency or review times. A supplier may focus on coordination, ordering processes, or communication across partner relationships. Content becomes stronger when it takes those different perspectives seriously. The message does not need to become overly technical. It needs enough accuracy and relevance for each reader to feel that the company understands the conditions attached to their role.

Why credibility matters in every channel

Healthcare buyers tend to read promotional material carefully. They notice vague claims, inflated language, and unsupported promises very quickly. That is why credibility has to be built into the writing itself. A clean explanation of a business problem can carry real weight. A grounded case example can help a reader picture how a solution would work in practice. Clear language around implementation, support, privacy, or service structure can also help keep the conversation moving. When protected health information enters the picture, HIPAA may become part of the review as well, especially for companies handling regulated data or supporting covered entities and business associates.

Content to support real decisions

The most useful assets in this space are the ones that help buyers think more clearly. An article can frame a problem in a way that supports internal discussion. An email sequence can keep a company visible while review is taking place. A service page can answer practical questions before a meeting is booked. B2B marketing in healthcare gains traction when content has a clear job and a clear reader. That focus usually produces stronger engagement than broad copy built around generic thought leadership language. Buyers respond well to material that respects their time and gives them something worth passing along.

What strong performance looks like

Success in healthcare is rarely captured by surface numbers alone. Traffic and opens may show that content has reached people, though those signals do not say much on their own about buying intent. Better indicators include repeat visits from the same organization, replies from relevant contacts, deeper engagement with security or implementation pages, and growing activity across several stakeholders in one account. Those patterns can tell commercial teams where interest is becoming more serious. B2B marketing in healthcare proves its value when it helps those teams follow up with better timing, better context, and material that fits the next stage of evaluation.

New Email Tracking Features Deliver More Accurate Engagement Insights

October 14, 2024
LuxSci

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.

HIPAA Compliant Email Use Cases for Health Plan Administrators and Insurance Providers

October 6, 2025
Pete Wermter

Email is still one of the most pervasive and trusted digital communication channels in use today — and it’s not going anywhere. For health insurance providers and health plan system administrators, email presents a major opportunity: the ability to communicate reliably, more personally, and more effectively with members and customers.

Despite this, some health insurers and plan providers are wary of utilizing email to its full potential for fear of running afoul of HIPAA regulations. Or worse, they think they’re HIPAA compliant when they may not be, or they don’t think they need to be compliant when it comes to certain communications.

When email is encrypted properly, it becomes a direct, compliant channel for everything from new plan enrollments and policy changes to Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) and reimbursements. With the right encryption methods and best practices in place, you can deliver the kind of personalized, efficient experiences that today’s members and customers expect, while meeting the highest standards for privacy and security.

With this in mind, let’s explore the most impactful HIPAA compliant email use cases for health plan administrators and health insurance providers – and how enabling secure, fully encrypted email with LuxSci can improve member engagement, drive more efficient processes, speed payment, and deliver better results and outcomes.

Email: A Highly Trusted Healthcare Communication Channel

Everyone uses email. It’s a daily habit for billions of people – including your members and customers. Email is also a top channel for baby boomers, and it will continue to be for years to come.

Simply put, people are familiar and comfortable with how email works, they trust it, and email doesn’t require the installation and use of another app or logging into a separate portal. For health plans and insurers, this means you can meet members and customers directly where they already are, through a highly used method of communication.

A Private and Preferred Option for Key Healthcare Conversations

When designed with security in mind, email is perfectly suited for delivering sensitive healthcare information, i.e., protected health information (PHI) and conversations about an individual’s health condition, related treatment, and insurance coverage. Just as importantly, it’s can be less invasive than SMS, and more effective – not to mention cheaper – than printed mail, making it an ideal choice for critical, high-touch communications, such as member benefits, policy updates, and billing.

HIPAA Compliance: Securing Better Digital Engagement

HIPAA compliance often gets framed as a limitation; in reality, however, it provides the framework for secure, scalable communications in healthcare.

With the right HIPAA compliant email solution, health plan administrators and health insurers can:

Deliver personalized content directly to members and customers – securely
Automate secure communications and related workflows
Avoid the additional friction of portals – and capture non-portal users
Ensure privacy and legal protection for sensitive data

Rather than avoiding email for sensitive communications, more and more organizations are now embracing secure email to improve engagement, click-throughs and conversions. This translates to more timely plan enrollments, more policy renewals and faster payments.

Compliance Enables Engagement, Not the Other Way Around

When you build compliance into your communications strategy, you unlock more ways to engage with members effectively. Confident in the safeguards you have in place to protect sensitive member and customer data, you can personalize your email communications, segmenting members according to their healthcare needs, their status within your organization, or their individual situation (recently joined, long-time member, disengaged, etc).

Consequently, HIPAA compliance doesn’t have to slow you down, as it’s persistently perceived to, it actually enables you to harness the possibilities of personalization to drive better engagement and better results.

HIPAA Compliant Email Use Cases for Health Plan Administrators and Insurers

Let’s turn our attention to five highly applicable use cases for HIPAA compliant email for health plans and insuers, and how they can benefit your company, as well as your members or customers.

Use Case #1: Sending Explanation of Benefits (EOBs)

Why It Matters: Reliable delivery, faster payments

In most cases, EOBs are still sent via physical mail, which is slow, costly, often misunderstood, and may never reach the intended recipient for myriad reasons. Conversely, with HIPAA compliant email, you can deliver digital EOBs directly to members in a format they can understand and trust is secure – at a much lower cost.

Benefits

Increased deliverability
Reduce printing and mailing costs
Reduced carbon footprint
The ability to track message activity, i.e., if delivered, opened, etc.

Try the LuxSci EOB ROI calculator here, and see how you can save millions of dollars per month with HIPAA compliant email EOBs.

Use Case #2: New Plan Enrollments

Why It Matters: Secure enrollments, faster and on time

Enrollment is a crucial moment on the member journey. With secure email, you can onboard new members more quickly by reaching them directly via their inbox, providing them with their enrollment instructions, required logins, delivering their plan details, and supplying coverage summaries. All of which can be achieved without them having to wait for the mail or chase portal logins.

Benefits

Real-time delivery of enrollment and onboarding materials
Immediate coverage confirmation
Easier to troubleshoot potential issues
Enhanced support with secure reply options

Use Case #3: Policy Change and Renewal Notifications

Why It Matters: Transparency and speed build trust

Policy updates, such as changes to deductibles, coverage, or provider networks, must be communicated clearly and as soon as possible. HIPAA compliant email makes it simple to notify members and deliver legally required communications reliably and securely.

Benefits

Keep members better informed and more empowered to make healthcare decisions
Meet regulatory deadlines
Align with compliance requirements
Reduce call center volume from confused policyholders

Use Case #4: Payments, Reimbursements and Financial Communications

Why It Matters: Payment and coverage clarity drives satisfaction, business continuity

From payment confirmations to out-of-pocket estimates, secure email gives members clear, timely financial updates, allowing them to plan accordingly. This makes them feel their healthcare providers are being open with them and transparent in communications for payments.

In contrast, confusion about benefits, coverage, and costs diminishes trust, which strains communication and makes effective engagement difficult. Financial clarity also accelerates your organization’s internal processes, enhancing efficiency and your ability to provide the best possible service to members.

Benefits

Increased member trust and satisfaction
Speed up reimbursement cycles
Reduce payment confusion
Enable secure document submission (e.g., receipts, claims)

Use Case #5: Education and Preventive Health Campaigns

Why It Matters: Proactive education supports better health outcomes

Use HIPAA compliant email to send targeted content, including preventive screening reminders, wellness resources, and seasonal health tips, while effectively securing PHI. Members benefit by taking a more active role in their healthcare journeys and committing to better health, which reduces healthcare costs and improves outcomes.

Benefits

Educated members are more involved in their healthcare journey
Personalized health education based on member history
Secure mass communication that meets HIPAA standards
Improved health outcomes and engagement

LuxSci for Health Plan Administrators and Insurers

HIPAA compliance isn’t the end of the conversation – it’s really the beginning of smarter and more secure engagement that has a real impact on business results, as well as member and customer satisfaction.

LuxSci is a trusted provider of secure email solutions tailored for healthcare organizations. With over 20 years of experience supporting HIPAA compliance and HITRUST certification, LuxSci enables compliance, marketing, operations, and IT teams to send high-volume, secure, personalized email – all without compromising privacy or performance.

Key Features

Automated encryption (TLS, PGP, S/MIME), which sets encryption according to message sensitivity and the recipient’s email security posture
Secure SMTP and API-based sending
Real-time tracking and delivery reporting
Automated workflows
Configurable access controls and user management
Full BAA coverage and dedicated infrastructure

Whether you’re sending thousands of onboarding emails or automating payment updates, LuxSci helps you do it securely, seamlessly, and at scale.

Ready to unlock the full potential of HIPAA compliant email?

Contact LuxSci today to discover more about how our solutions can enable more effective, more personalized healthcare communication.

Health Plan Administrator and Insurance Provider Secure Email Use Cases FAQs

How Does HIPAA Enable Better Email Communications for Health Plans?

HIPAA provides the framework for secure, HIPAA compliant communication of electronic protected health information (ePHI), allowing health plans and insurers to safely send personalized, high-impact emails to members.

Can We Use Email for Mass Communications Involving PHI?

Indeed, you can. LuxSci provides the infrastructure to send thousands, or even millions, of encrypted email communications containing PHI – securely, compliantly, and with fully encrypted content.

Is Secure Email More Effective Than Traditional Member Portals?

In many cases, yes: Secure email bypasses portal fatigue, created by the friction of your members having to log into a separate platform to receive key communications. Conversely, secure email platforms, like LuxSci, deliver messages directly to the inbox where members are more likely to read and respond.

What Makes Luxsci Different from Other Secure Email Providers?

LuxSci’s solutions have been built from the ground up with the stringent compliance and secuirty needs of healthcare organizations in mind. This translated into providing HIPAA-compliant email communication without sacrificing usability, supporting high-volume sending, flexible encryption options, and seamless integration into your existing systems.

What Makes a Device HIPAA Compliant?

October 22, 2024
Erik Kangas

No single feature makes a device HIPAA compliant, as compliance derives from a combination of security controls, administrative policies, and appropriate usage practices. Healthcare organizations must implement encryption, access restrictions, and monitoring capabilities to ensure devices handling protected health information meet regulatory requirements. While manufacturers may advertise “HIPAA compliant” products, the responsibility for maintaining HIPAA compliant status ultimately rests with the healthcare organization through proper configuration, management, and usage in clinical environments.

Physical Security Requirements

Healthcare technology requires physical protections to prevent unauthorized access to patient information. Organizations aiming to render a device HIPAA compliant should consider location restrictions that limit where equipment can be used or stored. Physical safeguards include screen privacy filters that prevent visual access from unauthorized viewers, device locks securing equipment to fixed objects, and controlled access to areas containing sensitive technology. For portable devices, theft prevention features like tracking software and remote wiping capabilities provide additional protection. These physical controls complement other measures to create more complete security for healthcare devices.

Data Encryption Implementation

Encryption is a requirement for becoming fully HIPAA compliant in healthcare settings. Organizations should implement full-disk encryption that protects all information stored on device hard drives or solid-state storage. For devices transmitting data across networks, communications encryption using current protocols prevents interception during transmission. Mobile devices particularly benefit from encryption since they face higher risks of loss or theft. Many healthcare organizations establish minimum encryption standards that all devices must meet before connecting to clinical systems or accessing patient information. Proper encryption key management ensures data remains accessible to authorized users while maintaining protection from unauthorized access.

Access Control Systems

Controlling who can use devices and access the information they contain forms an essential part of compliance. Healthcare organizations typically establish access policies supporting HIPAA compliant operations requiring unique identification for each user. Authentication methods range from passwords or PINs to biometric verification like fingerprint scanning or facial recognition. Automatic timeout features terminate sessions after periods without activity. Role-based permissions restrict what information different users can view based on their job functions. These layered access controls help prevent both external threats and inappropriate internal access to sensitive patient data.

Mobile Device Management

Mobile technology presents unique compliance challenges due to portability and varied usage contexts. An approach to HIPAA compliant management includes mobile device management (MDM) solutions that enforce security policies across smartphones, tablets, and laptops. These management systems can remotely configure security settings, install updates, and even wipe devices if lost or stolen. Application controls limit which programs can be installed or access protected health information. Many organizations implement container solutions that separate personal and clinical applications on the same device. These management capabilities provide consistency across diverse mobile platforms while adapting to healthcare workflows.

Audit and Monitoring Capabilities

HIPAA regulations require tracking access to protected health information, making monitoring important for device HIPAA compliant certification. Devices handling patient data should maintain logs recording user activities, data access, and system events. Security monitoring tools analyze these logs to identify unusual patterns that might indicate unauthorized access. Vulnerability scanning helps identify security weaknesses before they lead to data breaches. These monitoring capabilities not only help detect potential security incidents but also provide documentation of compliance efforts during regulatory reviews or audits.

Maintenance and Update Procedures

Maintaining device HIPAA compliant status requires ongoing attention to emerging security threats and vulnerabilities. Organizations should establish procedures for promptly applying security patches and updates to all devices accessing protected health information. Asset management systems track which devices need updates and verify completion. End-of-life policies ensure obsolete devices that can no longer receive security updates are removed from clinical use. Lifecycle planning addresses hardware and software obsolescence before it creates security gaps. These maintenance procedures help ensure that devices remain compliant throughout their operational lifespan in healthcare environments.

How Do You Know if Software is HIPAA Compliant?

February 21, 2025
Pete Wermter

As in any industry, the healthcare sector is eager to embrace any new technology solution that increases productivity, enhances operational efficiency, and cuts costs. However, the rate at which healthcare companies – and their patients and customers – have had to adopt new software and digital tools has skyrocketed since the pandemic. And while a lot of this software is beneficial, a key question arises: is it HIPAA compliant? While an application may serve an organization’s needs – and may be eagerly embraced by patients – it also needs to have the right measures in place to safeguard protected health information (PHI) to determine if it is indeed HIPAA compliant.

Whether you’re a healthcare provider, software vendor, product team, or IT professional, understanding what makes software HIPAA compliant is essential for safeguarding patient data and insulating your organization from the consequences of falling afoul of HIPAA regulations.

With this in mind, this post breaks down the key indicators of HIPAA compliant software, the technical requirements you should look for, and best practices for ensuring your software is HIPAA compliant.

What Does It Mean for Software to Be HIPAA-Compliant?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) sets national standards for safeguarding PHI, which includes any data related to a patient’s health, treatment, or payment details. In light of this, any applications and systems used to process, transmit, or store PHI must comply with the stringent privacy, security, and breach notification requirements set forth by HIPAA.

Subsequently, while healthcare organizations use a wide variety of software, most of it is likely to be HIPAA-compliant. Alarmingly, many companies aren’t aware of which applications are HIPAA-compliant and, more importantly, if there’s a need for compliance in the first place.

However, it’s important to note that HIPAA itself does not certify software. Instead, it’s up to software vendors to implement the necessary security and privacy measures to ensure HIPAA compliance. Subsequently, it’s up to healthcare providers, payers, and suppliers to do their due diligence and source HIPAA compliant software.

How to Determine If Software Is HIPAA Compliant

So, now that we’ve covered why it’s vital that the applications and systems through which sensitive patient data flows must be HIPAA compliant, how do you determine if your software meets HIPAA requirements? To assess whether software is HIPAA compliant, look for these key indicators:

1. Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

A HIPAA compliant software provider must sign a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with covered entities, i.e., the healthcare company. A BAA is a legal contract that outlines the vendor’s responsibility for safeguarding PHI. If a software provider doesn’t offer a BAA, their software is NOT HIPAA compliant.

Now, if a vendor offers a BAA, it should be presented front and center in their benefits, terms or conditions, if not on their website homepage as part of their key features. If a vendor has taken the time and effort to make their infrastructure robust enough to meet HIPAA regulations, they’ll want to make it known to reassure healthcare organizations of their suitability to their particular needs.

2. End-to-End Encryption

A key requirement of the HIPAA Security Rule is that sensitive patient data is encrypted end to end during its transmission. This means being encrypted during transit, i.e., when sent in an email or entered into a form, and at rest, i.e., within the data store in which it resides.

In light of this, any software that handles PHI should use strong encryption standards, such as:

Transport Layer Security (TLS – 1.2 or above): for secure transmission of PHI in email and text communications.
AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) 256: the preferred encryption method for data storage as per HIPAA security standards, due to its strength.

3. Access Controls and User Authentication

One of the key threats to the privacy of patient data is access by unauthorized parties. This could be from employees within the organization who aren’t supposed to have access to PHI. In some, or even many, cases, this may come down to lax and overly generous access policies. However, this can result in the accidental compromise of PHI, affecting both a patient’s right to privacy and, in the event patient data is unavailable, operational capability.

Alternatively, the exposure of PHI can be intentional. One on hand, it may be from employees working on behalf of other organizations, i.e., disgruntled employees about to jump ship to a competitor. More commonly, unauthorized access to patient data is perpetrated by malicious actors impersonating healthcare personnel. To prevent the unintended exposure of PHI, HIPAA compliant infrastructure, software and applications must support access control policies, such as:

Role-based access control (RBAC): the restriction of access to PHI based on their job responsibility in handling PHI, i.e.., an employee in billing or patient outreach. A healthcare organization’s security teams can configure access rights based on an employee’s need to handle patient data in line with their role in the company.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA): this adds an extra layer of security beyond user names and passwords. This could include a one-time password (OTP) sent via email, text, or a physical security token. MFA is very diverse and can be scaled up to reflect a healthcare organization’s security posture. This could include also biometrics, such as retina and fingerprint scans, as well as voice verification.
Zero-trust security: a rapidly emerging security paradigm in which users are consistently verified, as per the resources they attempt to access. This prevents session hijacking, in which a user’s identity is trusted upon an initial login and verification. Instead, zero trust continually verifies a user’s identity.
Robust password policies: another simple, but no less fundamental, component of user authentication is a company’s password policy. While conventional password policies emphasize complexity, i.e., different cases, numbers, and special characters, newer password policies, in contrast, emphasize password length.

4. Audit Logs & Monitoring

A key HIPAA requirement is that healthcare organizations consistently track and monitor employee access to patient data. It’s not enough that access to PHI is restricted. Healthcare organizations must maintain visibility over how patient data is being accessed, transferred, and acted upon (copied, altered, deleted). This is especially important in the event of a security event when it’s imperative to pinpoint the source of a breach and contain its spread.

In light of this, HIPAA compliant software must:

Maintain detailed audit logs of all employee interactions with PHI.
Provide real-time monitoring and alerts for suspicious activity.
Support log retention for at least six years, as per HIPAA’s compliance requirements.

5. Automatic Data Backup & Disaster Recovery

Data loss protection (DLP) is an essential HIPAA requirement that requires organizations to protect PHI from loss, corruption, or disasters. With this in mind, a HIPAA-compliant software solution should provide:

Automated encrypted backups: real-time data backups, to ensure the most up-to-date PHI is retained in the event of a security breach.
Comprehensive disaster recovery plans: to rapidly restore data in case of cyber attack, power outage, or similar event that compromises data access.
Geographically redundant storage: a physical safeguard that sees PHI. stored on separate servers in different locations, far apart from each other. So, if one server goes down or is physically compromised (fire, flood, power outage, etc.,) patient data can still be accessed.

6. Secure Messaging and Communication Controls

For software that involves email, messaging, or telehealth, i.e., phone or video-based interactions, in particular, HIPAA regulations require:

End-to-end encryption: for all communications, as detailed above.
Access restrictions: policies that only enable those with the appropriate privileges to view communications containing patient data.
Controls for message expiration: automatically deleting messages after a prescribed time to mitigate the risk of unauthorized access.
Audit logs: to monitor the inclusion or use of patient data.

7. HIPAA Training & Policies

Even the most secure software can be compromised if its users aren’t sufficiently trained on how to use it. More specifically, the risk of a security breach is amplified if employees don’t know how to identify suspicious behavior and who to report it to if an event occurs. With this in mind, it’s prudent to look for software vendors that:

Offer HIPAA compliance and cyber safety awareness training for users.
Implement administrative safeguards, such as usage policy enforcement and monitoring.
Support customizable security policies to align with your organization’s compliance needs.

Shadow IT and HIPAA Compliance

Shadow IT is an instance of an application or system being installed and used within a healthcare organization’s network without an IT team’s approval. Despite its name, shadow IT is not as insidious as it sounds: it’s simply a case of employees unwittingly installing applications they feel will help them with their work. The implications, however, are that:

IT teams are unaware of said application, and how data flows through it, so they can’t secure any PHI entered into it.
The application may have known vulnerabilities that are exploitable by malicious actors. This is all the more prevalent with free and/or open-source software.

While discussing the issue of shadow IT in general, it’s wise to discuss the concept of “shadow AI” – the unauthorized use of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions within an organization without its IT department’s knowledge or approval.

It’s easily done: AI applications are all the rage and employees are keen to reap the productivity and efficiency gains offered by the rapidly growing numbers of AI tools. Unfortunately, they fail to stop and consider the data security risks present in AI applications. Worse, with AI technology still in its relative infancy, researchers, vendors, and other industry stakeholders have yet to develop a unified framework for securing AI systems, especially in healthcare.

Consequently, the risks of entering patient data into an AI system – particularly one that’s not been approved by IT – are considerable. The privacy policies of many widely-used AI applications, such as ChatGPT, state the data entered into the application, during the course of engaging with the platform, can be used in the training of future AI models. In other words, there’s no telling where patient data could end up – and how and where it could be exposed.

The key takeaway here is that entering PHI into shadow IT and AI applications can pose significant risks to the security of patient data, and employees should only use solutions vetted, deployed, and monitored by their IT department.

Best Practices for Choosing HIPAA Compliant Software

Now that you have a better understanding of how to evaluate software regarding HIPAA compliance, here are some best practices to keep in mind when selecting applications to facilitate your patient engagement efforts:

✔ Look for a BAA: quite simply, having a BAA in place is an essential requirement of HIPAA-compliant software. So, if the vendor doesn’t offer one, move on.

✔ Verify encryption standards: ensure the software encrypts PHI both at rest and in transit.

✔ Test access controls: choose HIPAA-compliant software that allows you to restrict access to PHI based on an employee’s role within the organization.

✔ Review audit logging capabilities: HIPAA compliant software should track every PHI interaction. This also greatly assists in incident detection and reporting (IDR), as it enables security teams to pinpoint and contain cyber threats should they arise.

✔ Ensure compliance support: knowing the complexities of navigating HIPAA regulations, a reputable software vendor should provide comprehensive documentation on configuring their solution to match the client’s security needs. Better yet, they should provide the option of cyber threat awareness and HIPAA compliance training services.

✔ Create a List of Software Vendors: combining the above factors, it’s prudent for healthcare organizations to compile a list of HIPAA compliant software vendors that possess the features and capabilities to adequately safeguard PHI.

Choosing HIPAA Compliant Software

Matching the right software to a company’s distinctive workflows and evolving needs is challenging enough. However, for healthcare companies, ensuring the infrastructure and applications within their IT ecosystem also meet HIPAA compliance standards requires another layer of, often complicated, due diligence.

Failure to deploy a digital solution that satisfies the technical, administrative, and physical security measures required in a HIPAA compliant solution exposes your organization to the risk of suffering the repercussions of non-compliance.

If select and deploy the appropriate HIPAA compliant software, in contrast, your options for patient and customer engagement are increased, and you’ll be able to include PHI in your communications to improve patient engagement and drive better health outcomes. Schedule a consultation with one of our experts at LuxSci to discuss whether the software in your IT ecosystem meets HIPAA regulations. and how we can assist you in ensuring your organization is communicating with patient and customers in a HIPAA compliant way.