Collect data with a HIPAA-compliant form builder

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) aims to protect sensitive patient information through a comprehensive set of rules. It outlines guidelines for securely handling this information, including measures like encryption and access controls. Compliance with HIPAA regulations is vital for healthcare organizations to ensure both legal adherence and the protection of patient privacy, trust, and security.

For digital health companies, HIPAA compliance extends to web forms that collect patient information, including appointment scheduling forms, intake forms, and patient satisfaction surveys. Any connected workflow components, such as data storage, transmission, and processing, must also adhere to HIPAA regulations to maintain the security and privacy of patient information throughout its lifecycle. 

Adherence to HIPAA regulations is mandatory for a wide range of entities involved in the healthcare industry. This includes covered entities such as healthcare providers and health plans, as well as business associates of covered entities.

• Healthcare providers, such as hospitals, clinics, physician practices and pharmacies handle patients' protected health information (PHI) as part of their day-to-day operations and are therefore subject to HIPAA regulations.
• Health plans, which include insurance companies, HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations), and government healthcare programs like Medicare and Medicaid, also fall under HIPAA's purview. These organizations collect and process PHI to administer health benefits and manage claims, making HIPAA compliance essential to protect the privacy and security of patients' health information.
• Business associates of covered entities handle PHI on behalf of covered entities. This includes a wide range of service providers, such as billing companies, IT vendors, form builders and data storage providers.

Web forms aren’t inherently HIPAA compliant; their compliance hinges on design, implementation and usage. Generally, achieving HIPAA compliance involves incorporating encryption, access controls, audit trails and secure data management to protect sensitive PHI. Using a HIPAA compliant formbuilder can streamline this process, ensuring that the forms meet HIPAA’s security and privacy standards.

Website contact forms that collect or transmit PHI must adhere to HIPAA regulations to ensure the security and confidentiality of patient information. You have to assess whether the information you’re handling qualifies as PHI, which includes:

1. Patient's name
2. Patient's address
3. Patient's date of birth
4. Patient's Social Security number
5. Patient's medical record number
6. Health insurance policy number
7. Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code

Plus, any information related to the patient's past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, provision of healthcare, or payment for healthcare services is generally considered PHI.

If you have health quizzes that collect PHI, they’re subject to HIPAA regulations and must be implemented with appropriate security measures to maintain compliance. Your form’s data transmission, storage and processing methods should adhere to HIPAA standards to protect patient information.

When you’re looking for a HIPAA compliant form builder, it’s important to verify their compliance status and request relevant documentation such as a Business Associate Agreement (BAA). Let’s look at a few popular form builders:

Are Google Forms HIPAA-compliant?

You can create HIPAA-compliant Google forms by subscribing to an appropriate Google Workspace package and signing a BAA with Google. You might still feel restricted in the design and functionality customization capabilities.

Are Typeform forms HIPAA-compliant?

Typeform offers a HIPAA-compliant tier that is suitable for managing PHI. You'll want to reach out to their sales team to find out more about it. For those looking to create more customized or brand-specific form designs, you may find that Typeform has certain limitations in functionality and design flexibility. 

Formsort for HIPAA-compliant web forms

Formsort was built from the ground up for healthcare use cases, and therefore offers HIPAA-compliant solutions, ensuring secure handling of sensitive healthcare data. In addition to compliance, Formsort provides advanced logic capabilities and options for brand-aligned design, allowing you to create tailored and cohesive healthcare web forms that reflect your brand identity while maintaining strict privacy standards.

Non-compliance with HIPAA regulations can have serious consequences for healthcare organizations, including financial, legal, reputational, and operational repercussions. Patients expect their healthcare providers to protect the privacy and security of their personal health information. Without this, you might lose their trust or confidence in your services. Data breaches can damage your reputation and tarnish your organization's brand image, costing you future patients and business opportunities.

Legally, violating HIPAA regulations can result in significant fines and legal penalties imposed by regulatory authorities. Patients affected by data breaches or privacy violations may pursue legal action against your organization, leading to costly civil lawsuits and settlements. Plus, dealing with the aftermath of a data breach or regulatory investigation can disrupt normal operations, leading to productivity losses and increased expenses for remediation efforts.

As you can see in the table of penalties below, the government takes patient data security seriously. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) fines organizations for violations of HIPAA regulations, with penalties up to millions of dollars depending on the severity and scope of the breach. That’s why it’s important for healthcare organizations to invest in robust security measures to safeguard patient privacy and avoid these hefty fines (source).