HIPAA
Compliance
In enacting HIPAA, Congress mandated
the establishment of Federal standards for the privacy of
individually identifiable health information. CallNotice continually monitors HIPAA rules as they evolve to assure that our services stay current and compliant.
Is CallNotice Appointment Reminder
Service HIPAA compliant?
Yes. CallNotice is a business associate of a covered entity
under the Privacy Standards implemented by the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”)
and is indirectly regulated by the Privacy Standards by
virtue of being a business associate of a covered entity.
The Privacy Standards permit a covered entity to contact
its patients regarding appointments.
See the CallNotice Business Associate Agreement
Do appointment
reminder calls require prior patient authorization?
No, appointment
reminders are considered part of treatment of an individual
and, therefore, can be made without an authorization.
Supposing patient requests not to
receive appointment reminder calls?
HIPAA requires that you honor this request. CallNotice
has the OPT - OUT feature that will turn off all future
calls to a specific patient. By simply going to the web site you can enter the phone number to disable in the "Do Not Call" list, preventing the patient from receiving any future
reminder calls.
Can messages be left on answering machines or with
third parties?
HIPAA allows you to leave basic appointment
reminder information on an answering machine or with a third
party when dialing a patient's residence. In keeping with
the spirit of this particular regulation, we suggest that
you be prudent when using reminders and limit the information
to no more than is necessary for the patient to keep the
appointment.
HIPAA allows appointment reminders and private
messaging. Here are some links to the Health and Human Services
web site that specifically address these issues.
Also see:
http://answers.hhs.gov
http://www.hhs.gov/hipaafaq/providers/smaller/198.html
http://www.hhs.gov/hipaafaq/providers/smaller/286.html
"We get the Message Out!"
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