The complete guide to HIPAA email disclaimers
9 August 2024
Contents of article
When it comes to handling sensitive information, businesses and organizations are required to comply with certain regulations and laws. One such regulation is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA was enacted in 1996 to protect the privacy and security of individuals' health information.
What is HIPAA?
Enacted by the U.S. Congress in August 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) offers protection for millions of American workers by improving the portability and continuity of health insurance coverage. It requires U.S. healthcare providers and covered entities to have technical safeguards in place to protect personal health records. These include audit controls, integrity controls, and transmission security.
HIPAA violations are strictly prohibited and are enforceable with severe penalties. In fact, both civil and criminal penalties can be raised against a non-compliant individual or company.
Typically, a breach that’s classed as reasonable is liable for a $100 to $50,000 fine. However, fines for willful negligence cases can range from $1,000 to $50,000 with additional criminal charges. The maximum fine can be over $1.5 million per violation and up to ten years of potential jail time. More and more healthcare providers are being found to have committed HIPAA violations, particularly in the last decade alone.
What is a HIPAA email disclaimer?
A HIPAA email disclaimer is a statement added at the end of an email that contains PHI (Protected Health Information). Its purpose is to inform the recipient that the email contains confidential and protected health information and that any unauthorized disclosure or use of this information is strictly prohibited.
The disclaimer also typically includes a reminder for the recipient to notify the sender immediately if they received the email by mistake, as well as instructions on how to handle the information properly.
The need for a HIPAA email disclaimer
Email is still the preferred communication method for patients and healthcare practices across the U.S. This is unlikely to change in the future.
The problem is that email as a channel is inherently insecure. Data isn’t encrypted by default, especially by popular email clients like Outlook and Gmail. This means there’s no way of telling if a receiver is actually the intended recipient.
Email communications are permitted under HIPAA regulations, but specific precautions must be taken. HIPAA requires that any electronic data be encrypted, and patient consent obtained in order to use their information. At the same time, every email that you send must come with a HIPAA email disclaimer to assist with full HIPAA compliance.
Why? A HIPAA email disclaimer is used to inform patients and recipients that information contained within an email may be PHI and isn’t 100% secure. This means any recipient that chooses to reply with confidential information does so at their own risk. It also encourages people that should not be reading the message to forward it to the correct party.
This HIPAA email disclaimer can also tell patients not to disclose personal information. Examples include their date of birth or medical information. Basically, the disclaimer is designed to reduce your liability in the event that patient data is intercepted by unknown parties and used for unlawful purposes.
It’s worth remembering that a compliant HIPAA email disclaimer is designed only to inform. It won’t make your organization 100 percent compliant. HIPAA is designed to put patients first. This means your disclaimer needs to inform recipients of the risks related to their correspondence.
How to create a HIPAA email disclaimer
Not sure what to put in your HIPAA email disclaimer? Check out these 4 great examples to give you some inspiration.
Here are some tips to help you create an effective HIPAA email disclaimer:
Clearly state that the email contains confidential and protected health information.
Include instructions for handling the information properly, such as deleting the email if received by mistake or forwarding it to the appropriate party.
Remind recipients not to disclose any personal information in response to the email.
Make sure the disclaimer is easily visible and not hidden in the email text.
Update the disclaimer regularly to reflect any changes in regulations or policies.
How to add a HIPAA email disclaimer to your emails
If you run a small healthcare practice, your email needs will most likely be relatively simple. This means you can probably add a disclaimer directly to your email client. You can do this on an individual basis with little IT support.
Below are a couple of guides to get you started:
For larger practices, your IT team will be responsible for ensuring all messages have an appropriate HIPAA email disclaimer. However, this is often where issues arise.
Disclaimers are known to be very difficult to manage on a large scale. Employees can still tamper with the messaging, important wording can be missed out, IT updates will take a considerable amount of time and, of course, there’s the risk of legal action for noncompliance.
Use Exclaimer to stay HIPAA-compliant
With Exclaimer email signature solutions, you never have to worry about an email leaving your organization without an appropriate HIPAA email disclaimer again. Whether your users are sending from a desktop or mobile device, Exclaimer ensures disclaimers are added to all of their emails, helping you reach your goal of full HIPAA compliance.
Learn more about Exclaimer and get yourself a free trial today.
