LuxSci Enhances API Authentication for Easier, More Flexible Integrations with EHRs, CDPs and RCM Platforms

Company Announcements, New Feature Announcements
Erik Kangas
April 7, 2025

Today, we’re pleased to announce that LuxSci just made it even easier to leverage its powerful high volume email API with the healthcare platforms you rely on most. Whether you’re connecting with an EHR system, Customer Data Platform (CDP), Revenue Capital Management (RCM) platform—or even your contact center or unified communications suite—the new LuxSci API authentication options unlock the flexibility you need to scale and move fast.

In healthcare, connected patient journeys anchored in secure, personalized communications are driving increased engagement and better outcomes for patients and companies—all at a lower cost. From sending secure high-volume transactional emails to targeted marketing and educational communications, your systems and platforms need to talk to each other without friction to achieve the best results. LuxSci’s new API updates make that possible, securely.

What’s New in This Update

Support for OAuth 2.0, API Key, and Basic authentication methods.
Published API YAML specs and SwaggerHub integration for instant testing.
Enhanced multi-factor authentication (MFA) protection with one-time-use codes.

Overview of the LuxSci API

The LuxSci API is built with healthcare IT, security and developer teams in mind. It’s RESTful, secure, and designed for high volume email workflows.

Using industry standards like HTTPS, JSON, and TLS 1.2+, LuxSci’s API delivers fast and reliable integration and communication. Whether you’re sending appointment reminders, test results, preventative care communications, explanation of benefits (EoBs), or new product offers, your messages go out quickly and securely, with best-in-class email deliverability rates of 98% or more.

Designed for Compliance and Performance

LuxSci is HIPAA-compliant and HITRUST Certified, ensuring your healthcare communications stay within the bounds of regulatory compliance, keeping patient and company data secure—even as your email sending volume scales into the millions.

Authentication Gets a Major Upgrade

With the latest API release, LuxSci now supports three industry-standard authentication methods—alongside its proprietary LuxSci Secure option.

Let’s break them down:

OAuth 2.0 – The modern standard. Secure, flexible, and ideal for enterprise-scale integrations.
API Key – Simple and efficient. Ideal for server-to-server use when convenience matters most.
Basic Authentication – Straightforward and widely supported. Great for internal systems and quick testing.

Still Available and Highly Recommended: LuxSci Secure Authentication

For those who want the tightest possible control over API sessions—including HMAC signatures and session revocation—LuxSci Secure authentication remains the best option for customers.

Now, let’s take a closer look at how each of the new authentication methods work:

OAuth 2.0: A Standards-Based Approach

OAuth 2.0 gives you a robust framework to handle both account-level and user-level integrations.

Account-Level Authentication (Client Credentials Flow)

Perfect for system-level access—including EHR, CDP or RCM platform integrations where user context isn’t needed.

User-Level Authentication (Resource Owner Password Credentials Flow)

This method allows API access on behalf of individual users—great for patient portals or provider tools.

Security, Flexibility, and Simplicity Combined

Tokens expire after a default of 15 minutes, ensuring sessions aren’t left open indefinitely. Bonus: No message body signing is required, making integration quick and painless.

API Key: Simple and Straightforward

API Key authentication is as easy as including your credentials in a custom header. No session to manage, no extra handshake steps.

How It Works:

You send the HTTP header

X-API-Key: client_id:client_secret

With each request. That’s it.

Ideal Use Cases

Server-to-server automation
Internal dashboards
Data exports from analytics platforms

Basic Authentication: Familiar and Easy

Basic Auth is a time-tested option. Just Base64 encode your API credentials, include them in an HTTP header, and go.

While not as bulletproof as OAuth or LuxSci Secure, API Key and Basic Auth work fine for less sensitive data or development environments.

Easy Access to YAML Specs and SwaggerHub for API Testing

LuxSci has also published detailed YAML API specifications, making it easier for developers and IT teams to access testing interfaces.

You can find more information on our LuxSci API page.

Improved MFA and Easier Access to Testing Tools

As part of today’s announcement, LuxSci also rolled out new, smarter Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for enhanced web interface login protection.

LuxSci now ensures that each MFA code can be used only once. So, even if a hacker captures your password and MFA code, they are useless for conducting new login sessions. This update helps protect against automated phishing, spoofing, and fake login pages.

Why Healthcare Leaders Trust LuxSci

Best-In-Class Email Deliverability Rates of 98%

We don’t just send your emails—we get them delivered. Our 98%+ deliverability rate is among the highest in the industry, especially for sensitive healthcare data and communications.

HIPAA Compliance and HITRUST Certification

LuxSci checks every box when it comes to data privacy and protection. Trust your messages are safe, every step of the way.

Secure Communication at Scale

From a few thousand appointment reminders to millions of outbound secure emails—LuxSci scales with your business. Today, we work with some of the largest players in the healthcare industry, including Athenahealth, 1800 Contacts, US Healthconnect, Lucerna Health and Eurofins.

FAQs

Q1: What’s the most secure authentication method to use with LuxSci?

A: LuxSci Secure authentication offers the highest security with message signing and session revocation. For more information, visit our API Mechanics page.

Q2: Can I use OAuth 2.0 with user-level access?

A: Yes! Use the Resource Owner Password Credentials Flow (ROPC) to authenticate individual users.

Q3: Where can I find the SwaggerHub API testing tools?

A: LuxSci has published YAML specifications for SwaggerHub. Visit the LuxSci API page for more information.

Q4: How does LuxSci ensure HIPAA compliance in its API?

A: Through encryption, access controls, auditing, and industry certifications like HITRUST.

Erik Kangas

With 30 years engaged in to both academic research and software architecture, Erik Kangas is the founder and Chief Technology Officer of LuxSci, playing a core role in building the company into the market leader for HIPAA compliant, secure healthcare communications solutions that it is today. An international lecturer on messaging security, Erik also advises and consults on email technology strategies and best practices, secure architectures, and HIPAA compliance. Erik holds undergraduate degrees in physics and mathematics from Case Western Reserve University, and a doctoral degree in computational biophysics from MIT. Erik Kangas — LinkedIn

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LuxSci and Oiva Health Combine to Form Transatlantic Healthcare Communications Group

February 12, 2026
Pete Wermter

Boston & Helsinki, February 12, 2026 – LuxSci, a provider of secure healthcare communications solutions in the United States, and Oiva Health, a Nordic provider of Digital Care solutions in social and healthcare services, today announced that the companies are joining forces. Backed by Main Capital Partners (“Main”), the combination brings together two complementary platforms and teams, forming a strong transatlantic software group focused on secure healthcare communications.

Founded in 1999, LuxSci is a U.S. provider of HIPAA‑compliant, secure email, marketing, and forms solutions. Its application and infrastructure software enable organizations to securely deliver personalized, sensitive data at scale to support a broad range of healthcare communications and workflows including care coordination, benefits and payments, marketing, wellness communications, after care and ongoing care. Certified by HITRUST for the highest levels of data security, LuxSci serves dozens of healthcare enterprises and hundreds of mid‑market organizations.

Founded in 2010, Oiva Health is a provider of digital care and communications solutions in the Nordics. Headquartered in Finland, with additional offices in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Oiva Health offers digital care and digital clinic solutions – including digital visits, secure messaging, online scheduling and appointments, and caregiver communications – serving the long-term care, especially elderly care, and occupational healthcare verticals. The company employs approximately 60 people and has recently expanded across the Nordic region, with a growing presence in Norway and Sweden.

The combination of LuxSci and Oiva Health creates a larger, cross Atlantic group with complementary solutions, serving the U.S. and European markets. Together, the companies offer healthcare providers, payers, and suppliers a comprehensive suite of tools to communicate securely and compliantly, spanning communications, workflows, and virtual care delivery.

Daan Visscher, Partner and Co-Head North America at Main, commented: “We are pleased to announce this cross Atlantic transaction, creating an internationally active secure communications player within the healthcare and home care space. The combined product suite enables healthcare organizations to drive much needed efficiency gains in healthcare provision addressing a global trend of rising costs, aging population, and increasing pressure on resources needed to provide high-quality care.”

Mark Leonard, CEO of LuxSci, said, “We are thrilled to join forces with Oiva Health and believe that together we can truly make a difference in healthcare coordination, access, and delivery. We see an exciting path forward with our customers benefiting from an end-to-end, secure and compliant approach to optimizing both healthcare communications and today’s frontline workers, which we need now more than ever.”

Juhana Ojala, CEO at Oiva Health, concluded, “We look forward to this new chapter together with LuxSci. We are very excited about the strong alignment between our solutions, which especially strongly positions us to expand our flagship Digital Care offering to the high-potential U.S. care market – from care coordination to care delivery to in-home and institutional care.”

Nothing contained in this Press Release is intended to project, predict, guarantee, or forecast the future performance of any investment. This Press Release is for information purposes only and is not investment advice or an offer to buy or sell any securities or to invest in any funds or other investment vehicles managed by Main Capital Partners or any other person.

[END OF MESSAGE]

About LuxSci

LuxSci is a U.S.-based 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. Founded in 1999, LuxSci serves more than 1,900 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 example clients being Athenahealth, 1800 Contacts, Lucerna Health, Eurofins, and Rotech Healthcare, among others.

About Oiva Health

Oiva Health is a Digital Care provider in the Nordics, offering a comprehensive Digital Platform for integrated health and care services to digitalize primary healthcare, social care, hospital healthcare and long-term care services. The company was founded in 2010 and currently employs approximately 60 people in Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden serving domestic municipalities, customers and partners, such as City of Helsinki, Keski-Suomi Welfare Region, Länsi-Uusimaa Welfare Region in Finland, and Viborg municipality in Denmark with its Digital Care platform. Annually over 5 million customer contacts are handled digitally through Oiva Health’s Digital Care and Digital Clinic platforms.

About Main Capital Partners

Main Capital Partners is a software investor managing private equity funds active in the Benelux, DACH, the Nordics, France, and the United States with approximately EUR 7 billion in assets under management. Main has over 20 years of experience in strengthening software companies and works closely with the management teams across its portfolio as a strategic partner to achieve profitable growth and create larger outstanding software groups. Main has approximately 95 employees operating out of its offices in The Hague, Düsseldorf, Stockholm, Antwerp, Paris, and an affiliate office in Boston. Main maintains an active portfolio of over 50 software companies. The underlying portfolio employs approximately 15,000 employees. Through its Main Social Institute, Main supports students with grants and scholarships to study IT and Computer Science at Technical Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences.

The sender of this press release is Main Capital Partners.

For more information, please contact:

Main Capital Partners
Sophia Hengelbrok (PR & Communications Specialist)

sophia.hengelbrok@main.nl

+ 31 6 53 70 76 86

Rethinking HIPAA Compliant Email – Not Just a Checkbox

January 20, 2026
Pete Wermter

The compliance-only mentality is outdated.

Let’s be honest—when most healthcare organizations think about HIPAA compliant email, it’s usually in the context of avoiding fines or satisfying checklists. And while yes, compliance is critical, viewing it only through the lens of risk management is a missed opportunity.

In reality, HIPAA compliant email, when implemented properly, is one of the most powerful tools for patient and customer engagement. Why? Because it unlocks the ability to leverage protected health information (PHI) safely, enabling personalized, timely, and high-impact email communication that drives better engagement, satisfaction, and outcomes.

What Makes Email Truly HIPAA Compliant?

As a reminder, HIPAA compliant email requires that protected health information (PHI) is safeguarded both in transit and at rest. That means your email provider must:

Use encryption at all times

Be access-controlled

Include audit logs

Be stored and transmitted in a secure manner

Provide a Business Associate Agreement

Regular email services just don’t cut it. In fact, most consumer or marketing email platforms like Sendgrid or Constant Contact, while great at sending email, are not HIPAA compliant or have limitations when it comes to using PHI in your messages. Even when bolted-on encryption solutions are used, they often lack the flexibility, scalability, and automation needed for safe and effective healthcare email engagement.

LuxSci goes beyond the basics with policy-based encryption, secure TLS, PKI encryption and escrow/secure portal options. LuxSci’s SecureLine™ encryption technology dynamically selects the appropriate encryption method based on recipient capabilities and messaging context and can be configured to enforce secure delivery automatically according to organizational policies. LuxSci also provides the ability to enforce advanced multi-factor authentication. Every message is tracked with full audit trails—no guesswork, no loose ends.

The Real Opportunity – Secure, Personalized Email with PHI

Using PHI to Drive Personalized Messaging
Imagine sending a personalized reminder to a diabetic patient about an upcoming check-up. Or reaching out to new mothers with postnatal care resources tailored to their needs. Or sending automated email workflows to all your members to accelerate and increase new plan enrollments. Or email customer and prospects about a new product upgrade or new service offering. The list goes on. That’s the power of PHI-personalized email—when done securely.

Targeted Segmentation with Sensitive Data
With HIPAA compliant email solutions like LuxSci, you can segment your audience based on real health data with high levels of precision, such as chronic conditions, appointment history, insurance status, health risks, and more, without compromising patient trust or security.

Breaking the One-Size-Fits-All Approach in Healthcare Email
Generic email blasts are over. Modern patients expect personalization. With LuxSci, you can deliver highly targeted, highly secure emails with encrypted content, while staying HIPAA compliant.

Real Business Results from Secure Email

Here’s how secure, personalized email can drive improved results across a range of healthcare communications, including:

Increased Patient Appointments and Follow-ups – Sending encrypted, personalized appointment reminders and follow-up notices can reduce no-shows and boost overall appointment volume.
Boosting Preventative Care with Outreach Campaigns – Preventative campaigns (think flu shots or cancer screenings) sent securely to the right segments can lead to higher response rates, better health outcomes, and a lower cost of care.
Improving Health Plan Enrollments – Targeted email outreach during open enrollment, tailored by eligibility or plan type, and powered by automated workflows leads to higher enrollments and lower call center costs.
Driving Awareness and Sales of New Services or Products – Have a product upgrade offer, new wellness program or telehealth service? Send secure, PHI-informed HIPAA compliant email to the right audience for increased sales and faster adoption.
Optimize Explanation of Benefits Notices – Replace snail mail with email that’s fast, reliable and trackable, ensuring customers are informed and compliance is met.

The Healthcare Marketer’s Secret Weapon: Using PHI Responsibly

In a world moving away from third-party cookies, first-party data is more valuable than ever, and PHI is the most powerful form of it in healthcare. With secure HIPAA compliant email, PHI doesn’t have to be locked away. Marketers can safely use it to understand patient needs and send relevant, timely messages. PHI-driven segmentation lets you build hyper-targeted campaigns that speak to relevant conditions, unique needs and timely topics, increasing open rates, clicks throughs, and campaign conversions.

Meeting the Personalization Demands of Today’s Patients and Customers

HIPAA-compliant email is no longer just about checking a box. It’s about unlocking the full potential of your patient and customer data to drive better engagement, healthier outcomes, and measurable business results.

In closing, below are some final thoughts on how secure, HIPAA compliant email delivers long-term value for your organization and better connections with your patients and customers, including:

- Future-Proofing Healthcare Engagement – Patients expect Amazon-level personalization. HIPAA-compliant tools let you meet those expectations securely.

- Adapting to Data Privacy Regulations Beyond HIPAA – From GDPR to state-level privacy laws, secure communication is no longer optional, it’s foundational.

- Building Trust Through Secure Communication – Each secure, personalized message sent is a trust-building moment with your patients and customers.

Why LuxSci? The Infrastructure Behind the Performance

With LuxSci’s secure email infrastructure and email marketing solutions, healthcare organizations can confidently personalize communication, reach patients more effectively, and fuel growth with PHI-safe segmentation, messaging, and email automation.

LuxSci takes data security and email performance to the next level by offering dedicated cloud infrastructure for each customer, which means your email campaigns aren’t slowed down by other vendors on shared cloud services and your attack footprint is much smaller. In short, you get higher delivery rates and throughput with proven HIPAA compliance and data security.

The future of healthcare engagement is personal, secure, and performance-driven—and it starts with HIPAA compliant email done right.

Reach out today with any questions or to learn more about LuxSci.

FAQs

1. Is HIPAA-compliant email necessary for marketing communications?
Yes—if your emails include or are based on PHI (like appointment reminders, condition-based messaging, or insurance info), you need HIPAA-compliant email and recipient consent to avoid legal risk and preserve patient trust.

2. Can PHI be used in marketing emails under HIPAA?
Yes, with proper consent and secure, HIPAA compliant infrastructure like LuxSci’s, PHI can be safely used in emails for personalized, segmented campaigns.

3. How does LuxSci ensure high email deliverability for healthcare messages?
LuxSci uses dedicated cloud servers for each customer, active email reputation monitoring, and best-practice configurations to ensure high deliverability rates for sensitive emails.

4. Is LuxSci only for marketing teams?
No—LuxSci supports marketing, clinical, operations, and IT teams by enabling secure, compliant email communication across the entire organization.

5. What types of PHI can I use to segment campaigns using LuxSci?
You can segment based on chronic conditions, visit history, insurance status, provider details, age, gender, location, and more—all while staying fully compliant.

Most Popular LuxSci Blog Posts of 2025

December 30, 2025
Pete Wermter

As we close out 2025, healthcare communicators, IT and compliance leaders, and digital marketers face an ever-changing landscape of security threats, regulatory updates, and technology innovations. At LuxSci, we’re committed to helping you with continuous updates and guidance on the future of secure healthcare communications.

In case you missed it, or need a refresh, below are some of our most popular blog posts from 2025. Enjoy!

1. Improve Email Engagement and Marketing Results with Automated Workflows

Automated workflows are transforming how healthcare organizations engage patients and customers — enabling dynamic, event-driven campaigns that easily scale your outreach and keep you HIPAA compliant. In this post, we introduce LuxSci’s Automated Workflows capability for our Secure Marketing healthcare solution. Learn how sequence-based journeys can personalize outreach and optimize engagement with behavior-based triggers that improve campaign performance — without sacrificing data security.

Read the full post: LuxSci Enhances Secure Marketing with Automated Workflows

2. Healthcare Email Threat Readiness Strategies

Email remains a frontline channel for healthcare communications, and a prime target for cyber threats and criminals. This deep-dive into email threat readiness strategies covers essential practices like continuous monitoring, business continuity planning, and workforce training to mitigate email-borne security risks. Whether you’re responsible for clinical systems, marketing, or enterprise IT, this post provides a strategic playbook to strengthen your defenses, while maximizing your results.

Read the full post: Healthcare Email Threat Readiness Strategies

3. HIPAA Compliant Email — 20 Tips in 20 Minutes

For practical guidance you can apply right now, this on-demand webinar distills 20 key tips for HIPAA-compliant email across technical, legal, and operational domains. Whether you’re refining your infrastructure, improving deliverability, or modernizing your data security posture in 2026, this resource is a time-efficient way to elevate your compliance and security.

Read the post and watch the webinar on demand: HIPAA Compliant Email: 20 Tips in 20 Minutes

4. Is SendGrid HIPAA-Compliant? What You Should Know

Choosing the right email provider matters, especially when Protected Health Information (PHI) is at stake. In this post, we examine SendGrid’s capabilities in the context of HIPAA compliance, outline what it takes to send PHI securely, and offer guidance on evaluating third-party services for secure healthcare email and communication needs.

Read the full post: Is SendGrid HIPAA-Compliant?

5. LuxSci Shines in G2 Winter 2026 Reports

Customer feedback matters to LuxSci. In this post, we share the most recent news about LuxSci’s performance in the G2 Winter 2026 Reports, where we earned 20 badges across categories like Email Security, Encryption, Gateway, and HIPAA-Compliant Messaging. These reviews reflect not just product excellence, but trust from real users, which we work hard to build every day!

Read the full post: LuxSci Shines in G2 Winter 2026 Reports

Looking Ahead to 2026

We look forward to providing more information and insights on secure healthcare communications in the coming year, including the latest on HIPAA compliant email, PHI security, healthcare marketing, threat readiness, and personalized engagement. In the meantime, if you’re not already, follow us on LinkedIn below, and we’ll see you here in 2026!

Follow LuxSci on LinkedIn

LuxSci Welcomes Angel Mazariegos as Head of Finance

December 9, 2025
Pete Wermter

LuxSci, a leader in secure healthcare communications and HIPAA compliant email, is pleased to announce the appointment of Angel Marie Mazariegos as the company’s new Head of Finance. With over 25 years of experience in financial management, accounting, and human resources, Angel will play a central role in advancing LuxSci’s operational excellence and supporting the company’s rapid growth in 2026 and beyond.

Angel brings a wealth of expertise to LuxSci, having held senior leadership positions at organizations focused on financial services, language and access services for healthcare, and human resources. In these roles, Angel has led multi-department Finance and HR teams, spearheading critical initiatives, including ERP implementations, streamlined employee onboarding, and financial process optimization.

In her role at LuxSci, Angel will oversee all aspects of the company’s finance operations, including budgeting, forecasting and reporting. Additionally, Angel will manage the company’s HR function, ensuring that LuxSci continues to foster a strong, people-driven culture based on its Secure, Trust, Responsible and Smart company values.

“Angel’s blend of financial and HR leadership makes her an invaluable addition to the LuxSci executive team and a real asset for our people,” said Mark Leonard, CEO of LuxSci. “We look forward to working with Angel to build the high-performing teams that will be critical to our future growth and serving the evolving needs of our customers.”

Angel holds dual MBA degrees in Accounting and Human Resource Management from Cappella University, as well as dual BS degrees in Business Administration (Accounting and CIS Business Systems) from California State University, Los Angeles.

“I am honored to join the LuxSci team at such an exciting time for the company,” said Mazariegos. “I look forward to working with the team and helping build on LuxSci’s reputation for excellence and reliability in secure healthcare communications.”

How to Improve Patient Engagement with Secure Communications

October 29, 2024
Pete Wermter

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!

New Reporting Features Go Deeper on Email Deliverability Statistics, Trends and Analysis

May 28, 2024
LuxSci

We recently rolled out new email reporting features, taking deliverability depth and analysis to new levels. If you’re a current LuxSci customer and haven’t checked them out, now’s the time. If you’re new to LuxSci, learn more below, and don’t hesitate to reach out for more info – or a demo.

LuxSci secure communications solutions have always featured rich reporting on email deliverability, including volumes and percentages for emails:

in queue
opened
clicked
failed
secured

With our latest release, we made these powerful statistics easier to consume and analyze with an improved user interface for more efficiency and greater ease-of-use. Users can simply select the type of report they’d like and customize it using a range of filtering selections. This is great for diving deeper into your email performance to make adjustments on-the-fly, and to spot trends or opportunities for better engagement that you may have missed before.

New UI – Email Deliverability Statistics

Get more granular, ID trends in real time with Split Reporting

As part of this release, we are pleased to introduce our Split Reporting feature, which empowers users to drill down on email deliverability statistics across a range of parameters, including:

subject
from address
recipient domains
marketing ID or campaign
custom field

For example, users can analyze email deliverability statistics by subject to determine which ones are performing best, by use case to track results by campaign, or to track performance by recipient email domains. With split reporting, users also can analyze email volumes across queued, delivered, opened, failed and clicked parameters, and determine click-through rates (CTR) to measure effectiveness and ROI of campaigns.

New Feature Example – Split Reporting by Recipient Domain

If you’d like to learn more, reach out and connect with us today!

What Should a HIPAA Email Retention Policy Include?

April 21, 2025
Erik Kangas

A HIPAA email retention policy should include classification procedures for different email types, retention schedules based on content and legal requirements, secure storage and disposal methods, access controls for archived communications, and compliance monitoring procedures. The policy must address both HIPAA documentation requirements and broader legal obligations while providing clear guidance for staff implementation and ongoing management. Healthcare organizations need comprehensive retention policies that address complex regulatory landscapes without creating unnecessary administrative burden. Well-designed policies help ensure compliance while managing storage costs and supporting operational efficiency across the organization.

Email Classification and Categorization Guidelines

Content-based categories help staff identify appropriate retention periods by distinguishing between patient care communications, administrative messages, and marketing materials. Each category should have clear examples and decision criteria to ensure consistent application. PHI identification procedures enable staff to recognize when email communications contain protected health information requiring special handling and extended retention periods. These procedures should address obvious PHI like patient names as well as indirect identifiers that could reveal patient information. Business purpose classification distinguishes between emails supporting patient treatment, healthcare operations, payment activities, and other organizational functions. Different business purposes may trigger different retention requirements under various regulatory programs.

Retention Schedule Specifications

Minimum retention periods should reflect the longest applicable requirement from HIPAA email retention policy, state medical record laws, federal programs, and organizational needs. The policy should clearly state these periods for each email category and explain the basis for each requirement. Maximum retention limits help organizations manage storage costs and reduce litigation exposure by establishing when emails should be destroyed unless legal holds or other special circumstances require continued preservation. These limits should balance compliance needs with practical considerations. Exception procedures provide guidance for situations requiring deviation from standard retention schedules such as litigation holds, ongoing investigations, or patient access requests. These procedures should specify approval processes and documentation requirements for exceptions.

Storage and Archive Management Requirements

Security standards for archived emails must maintain the same level of PHI protection as active communications throughout the retention period. The policy should specify encryption requirements, access controls, and monitoring procedures for archived communications. Storage location specifications define where different types of email communications should be preserved including on-premises systems, cloud services, or hybrid approaches. These specifications should address data sovereignty, vendor requirements, and disaster recovery needs. Migration procedures ensure that archived emails remain accessible as technology systems change over time. The policy should address format preservation, system upgrades, and vendor transitions that could affect archived email accessibility.

Access Control and Retrieval Procedures

Authorization requirements define who can access archived email communications and under what circumstances. The policy should establish role-based permissions that limit access to personnel with legitimate business needs while maintaining audit trails. Search and retrieval protocols provide step-by-step procedures for locating archived emails during audits, legal discovery, or patient access requests. These protocols should specify search parameters, documentation requirements, and quality control measures. Emergency access procedures enable retrieval of archived communications during urgent situations when normal approval processes might delay patient care. These procedures should include alternative authorization methods and enhanced audit requirements.

Disposal and Destruction Standards

Secure deletion methods ensure that email content and metadata are completely removed when retention periods expire. The policy should specify approved destruction techniques that prevent unauthorized recovery of PHI from disposed communications. Certification requirements mandate documentation of email destruction activities including dates, methods used, and personnel responsible. These certifications support compliance demonstrations and help track disposal activities across the organization. Media destruction procedures address proper disposal of storage devices containing archived emails when equipment reaches end of life. A HIPAA email retention policy should specify physical destruction or certified wiping procedures that prevent PHI recovery.

Compliance Monitoring and Audit Support

Review schedules establish regular assessment of email retention practices to ensure continued compliance with policy requirements and changing regulations. These reviews should evaluate policy effectiveness, system performance, and staff compliance. Audit preparation procedures provide guidance for responding to regulatory reviews or legal discovery requests involving archived email communications. These procedures should include search protocols, production formats, and timeline management. Performance tracking helps organizations measure their success in meeting retention obligations while identifying areas needing improvement. Key metrics might include retention compliance rates, retrieval response times, and storage cost management.

Staff Training and Implementation Guidance

Training requirements specify education that personnel must receive about email retention obligations and their role in policy implementation. Training should cover classification procedures, retention schedules, and proper handling of archived communications. Implementation timelines provide realistic schedules for deploying new retention policies while allowing adequate time for staff training, system configuration, and process development. These timelines should consider organizational capacity and change management needs. Resource allocation addresses personnel, technology, and financial requirements for effective email retention policy implementation. The policy should specify roles and responsibilities while identifying budget needs for ongoing operations.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance Integration

Regulatory coordination ensures that a HIPAA email retention policy is adhered to, aligning with requirements from state laws, federal programs, and professional licensing boards. The policy should identify all applicable requirements and explain how conflicts are resolved. Legal hold procedures provide immediate preservation capabilities when litigation is anticipated or pending. These procedures should include notification processes, scope determination, and coordination with legal counsel to ensure comprehensive preservation. Update mechanisms ensure that retention policies remain current as regulations change or organizational needs evolve. A HIPAA email retention policy should specify review frequencies, approval processes, and communication procedures for policy modifications.

Is SendGrid HIPAA-Compliant?

January 23, 2025
LuxSci

Twilio’s SendGrid is a cloud-based email marketing platform that contains the tools and resources that organizations need to carry out bulk email marketing campaigns. By providing companies with a robust, scalable email infrastructure, SendGrid reduces the technical and management overhead from delivering emails at scale.

SendGrid’s capabilities and benefits are undeniable – and are the reason why the popular platform is the email delivery service of choice for prominent companies like Spotify and Airbnb. For healthcare organizations, however, while reliability and scalability are essential for large-scale patient engagement campaigns and communications, security is another crucial concern. More specifically, for a healthcare company to send electronic protected health information (ePHI) through an email services platform, the service must be HIPAA-compliant.

This then begs the question, is SendGrid a HIPAA compliant email service? Subsequently, can companies use SendGrid to transmit ePHI?

The short answer is no, they are not. Let’s take a closer look…

Is SendGrid HIPAA-Compliant?

SendGrid is not a HIPAA-compliant email service. There are two key reasons for this:

It lacks sufficient encryption measures
SendGrid does not sign business associate agreements (BAAs)

Let’s discuss each reason in greater detail.

Basic Encryption

SendGrid only offers the basic encryption provided by the Simple Mail Transmission Protocol (SMTP), i.e., the standard mechanism used to transmit emails.

Unfortunately, this level of encryption leaves ePHI vulnerable to cyber threats such as business email compromise (BEC) attacks, ransomware, and device loss or theft. In contrast, for an email services platform to be HIPPA-compliant, it must protect ePHI in transit and at rest, using security measures like Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption and end-to-end encryption.

Refreshingly, SendGrid is clear and upfront about this (in contrast to, Mailchimp, for example, who make you dig a little deeper to determine their non-compliance) – as Twilio’s documentation explicitly says that they do not offer HIPAA-compliant data transmission. Stating, “SendGrid does not natively support HIPAA-compliant data transmission. We do not offer any encryption or security measures surrounding message transmission beyond those included in the SMTP RFC, which was not designed with HIPAA compliancy in mind.”

In short, SendGrid wasn’t designed to withstand the increased cyber risk that accompanies handling ePHI and isn’t HIPPA-compliant as a result.

No Business Associate Agreement

Additionally, in addition to lower levels of encryption, SendGrid does not sign the business associate agreements (BAA) required to be HIPPA-compliant.

A business associate agreement (BAA) is a written contract between a covered entity (your company) and a business associate (a service provider, such as an email services or email marketing platform) that’s an essential requirement of HIPAA compliance. A BAA details how two organizations can share data and the legal responsibilities of each party.

This is again stated on Twilio’s website that says, “Twilio SendGrid does not intend uses of the Service to create obligations under The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) or similar laws and makes no representations that the Service satisfies the requirements of such laws. If You are (or become) a Covered Entity or Business Associate (as defined in HIPAA) or a Financial Institution (as defined in GLBA), You agree not to use the Service for any purpose or in any manner involving Protected Health Information (as defined in HIPAA) or Nonpublic Personal Information (as defined in GLBA).”

Here, Twilio is explicitly telling you that SendGrid does not fit the requirements of HIPPA-compliant and that you should not use their service to transmit ePHI.

HIPAA-Compliant Alternatives to SendGrid

While healthcare companies cannot rely on popular options like SendGrid if they want to utilize ePHI in their patient outreach campaigns, fortunately, there are HIPAA-compliant email platforms that are specifically designed for organizations that have to comply with the regulations.

As the most experienced HIPAA-compliant email provider, LuxSci specializes in providing secure and scalable HIPAA-compliant services for companies aiming to send hundreds of thousands – or millions – of emails. In light of this, we place security, regulatory and practical considerations front and center when building our solutions – from their early planning stages until final deployment.

Our approach results in tailor-made tools and services like HIPAA-compliant bulk email, secure text and secure marketing. This includes flexible encryption functionality, such as TLS, end-to-end, or role-based access encryption, that enable healthcare organizations to align their security with the sensitivity of the transmitted and their specific business requirements – all while remaining HIPAA compliant.

To discover how LuxSci and SendGrid stack up against each other, as well as with other HIPAA-compliant, general purpose and marketing email providers on the market, including Virtru and Mailchimp, take a look at our Vendor Comparison Guide. The guide takes a deep dive on 12 email delivery platforms, offering insights on what to consider when selecting a provider – and how to choose the vender best suited to meet your secure healthcare communications needs.

Get your copy here, and reach out to us with any questions.