WordPress Hosting for HIPAA Compliance

If you’re reading this, I assume you’re already aware of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates. If not, here’s a brief refresher:

HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to standardize the way healthcare providers communicate with each other in order to ensure the security and privacy of individuals’ healthcare information.

Under HIPAA, all healthcare providers (hospitals, doctors’ offices, etc.) must follow specific procedures to protect the confidentiality of patient data. One of those procedures is emailing patients about their health condition(s).

While there are many exceptions to HIPAA, it doesn’t matter much if you’re already in compliance. The good news is that HIPAA doesn’t require you to use a certain type of hosting service. This is important because it means you have many options when it comes to hosting providers. You don’t want to limit your choices just to keep in line with HIPAA guidelines.

In this article, we’ll discuss some of the best practices that qualify you for HIPAA compliance when selecting a web host.

Ensure Your Email Is Properly Attracting, Converting, And Responding To Patients

One of the most important things you can do for your email marketing campaigns is to ensure that they’re properly configured. You’ll need to set the stage for patient engagement by developing an attractive email that resonates with your audience. Once you have their attention, you can continue with the enticing content that will eventually coax them into making a purchase or subscribing to your mailing list.

To develop an attractive email, you’ll need to consider multiple factors. For example, is the font size too small on a mobile device? Is the copy compelling enough to stand out among the hordes of other emails in their inbox? What about the calls-to-action? Are they compelling enough to encourage the patient to take the desired action (i.e., buy your product, read your blog post, etc.)?

To find the answers to these questions, you can use an email testing tool to send yourself test emails. When you receive these test emails, you should be able to easily identify the areas that need the most work before you start sending your real emails out.

Securely Sender-Ensure Your Email Is Not Being Scraped By Bots

Sending an email to a large, established list of recipients is a smart move for any business. If you’re worried about your email being snatched up by bots and repurposed without your permission, you can look for a secure Gmail plugin that will add an extra layer of protection to your emails.

One of the best things about this approach is that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, you can use the Gmail plugin to ensure your emails are not being repurposed by bots. When you use this free plugin, all of your outgoing emails from Gmail will be sent through a secure connection so that your email content is never at risk of being repurposed by a robot or malicious individual. This way, you can be sure that your email content is only seen by the intended recipients.

The best part is that you don’t need to have your own Gmail account to take advantage of this feature. As long as you have an email account, you can use this plugin to send all of your emails through a secured connection.

This way, even if a hacker gets a hold of your email content, they still won’t be able to use it without you knowing about it. This is because Gmail will notify you that your emails are being accessed by a third party and give you the option to revoke their access.

Avoid Sending Unwanted Emails To Patients

Another important consideration when selecting a web host is to make sure that you’re not accidentally sending unwanted or unsolicited emails to your patients. As part of the HIPAA compliance process, you need to ask yourself whether you want to continue sending email notifications about your practice to patients who do not want to receive them. You can enable patients to join a mailing list for relevant medical information or to opt out of receiving future emails.

If you’re not sure whether or not your email qualifies as a violation of patient confidentiality, you can ask your legal advisor. After all, they’re the ones who are familiar with HIPAA regulations and may be able to provide some guidance on this front.

Keep Your Email Content Simple & To-the-Point

The simpler your email’s content, the greater the chance that your message will be processed and understood by your reader. Long, complex sentences and paragraphs will make your email harder to digest and more prone to being overlooked or jumbled together with other emails in the user’s inbox.

The general rule is that short, snappy sentences are preferred over longer ones. This makes your content easier to consume and less likely to be cut off by the recipient’s email client. If your content is too long, it will also make it harder for the recipient to understand what you’re trying to say. It’s a waste of time and effort for both of you.

If possible, break down your complex sentences into short segments. This will not only make your content easier to consume but will also help establish a pattern for the reader. When someone receives a regular stream of emails from you, they will begin to expect certain language and formatting styles from your emails. This can help guide your writing and ensure your content is consistent and easy to understand.

Minimize The Amount Of Personal Information You Provide

When you provide personal information (e.g., name, email, phone number, etc.) about yourself in an email, you’re giving that information to a third party. Even if you think that the information you provide is completely private, you still need to consider the security and privacy of that information. When selecting a web host, you need to make sure that you’re not sharing too much personal information about yourself.

As a general rule, you should not provide your social security number, financial information or healthcare information in an email.

If you think that your personal information can be used to identify you or your practice, you can either choose not to provide it or enter it using a pseudonym. This way, you’ll be sure that your identity is not revealed to the public.

The key is to ensure that your personal information does not appear to be readily available to anyone who might be able to gain access to it. The fewer pieces of personal information that you provide, the better. This will help reduce the amount of information that can be used to identify you.

Make Sure That You’re Using A Compliant Email Service

In addition to the security and privacy features discussed above, you should also look for a web host that is fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This will ensure that your email service provider is doing everything in their power to ensure that your data is protected and not given away to unauthorized individuals or organizations.

Finding a web host that is HIPAA compliant doesn’t have to be difficult. In fact, you can use this search engine to easily find a web host that meets your needs. As long as you perform a simple search for “HIPAA compliant web host,” you’ll be presented with a list of various companies that offer a complete suite of services to ensure HIPAA compliance.

By using a web host that is HIPAA compliant, you can rest assured that your personal information will remain secure and private. This way, you can continue sending out email marketing campaigns without fear of violating any federal or HIPAA regulations.