HIPAA-Compliant Appointment Reminders for Healthcare Practices
Built for healthcare teams who safeguard patient privacy and stay on schedule.
Works with your existing calendar & workflow
You're busy keeping your patients healthy. The last thing you want to worry about is violating HIPAA whenever you contact patients.
The good news? It's perfectly okay to talk with patients about scheduling and send them reminders, as long as you stick to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rules.
Apptoto makes it easy to send fully automated, HIPAA-compliant text messages, emails, and voice reminders for every appointment, so you can reduce no-shows and protect patient privacy. Fully customizable appointment reminders and online scheduling pages help keep your team on track, your patients informed, and your practice compliant.
Eliminate No-Shows
Consolidate Your Workflow
Improve Patient ExperienceHIPAA wasn't just designed to protect patient privacy. It was created to help healthcare practices like yours confidently adopt new technology without compromising trust.
To help your practice meet HIPAA standards, Apptoto offers:
Remove protected health information (PHI) from booking confirmations, appointment reminders, and follow-up messages with a few clicks.
Instantly notify patients when you need to reschedule or cancel their visit. Include your scheduling link automatically so they can rebook fast.
Let patients opt in or out of appointment messages and choose their preferred contact method (e.g, reminder calls but not text messages), per HIPAA regulations.
Signed business associate agreements are available on Group Plans and higher to support your compliance requirements.
Includes SSL encryption, HITRUST-certified account hosting (via AWS), and strict account safeguards (data encryption for all sensitive data "at rest" and "in transit," logging disabled on server, and accounts disabled after 6 failed login attempts).
Only HIPAA-trained Apptoto staff who’ve undergone background checks can access accounts.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) confirms that phone calls, text messages, and emails are all permitted and effective ways to remind patients about upcoming appointments under HIPAA. Reminding patients about appointments that they made days, weeks, or months before is critical to providing patients with timely care and ensuring your healthcare office runs efficiently.
But HIPAA also sets clear boundaries. To stay compliant, providers must avoid sharing any sensitive information that could be overheard, intercepted, or misused.
Here's what healthcare teams need to know to protect patient privacy and build trust when sending appointment reminders through Apptoto:
**Apptoto offers tools to help your practice support HIPAA compliance, but we are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. Default message templates may include identifying details, and it is the provider's responsibility to review and modify content as needed to meet HIPAA requirements. Always follow your internal HIPAA policies and consult your legal or compliance team to ensure your messaging setup aligns with both organizational standards and federal regulations.
Phillip Sultan,
Sightpath Medical Health Services
"We needed it to transfer information into our Salesforce account, post custom fields, be HIPAA compliant, and…we needed it to not be outlandishly priced. For that, I'm glad to have found Apptoto."
Karen Shaffer, RN CDMS,
AmeriSys
"I use the Apptoto program multiple times a day to make it easier and more convenient to communicate with my patients. This program is virtually flawless and saves so much time!"
Steve Nenninger, NMD
"Apptoto has not only decreased scheduling confusion, it has eliminated it. It has also eliminated the staff support and expenses required to maintain the schedule. The service is an incredible value."
Yes. HIPAA permits sending appointment reminders via SMS (text) if certain safeguards are followed. These include obtaining patient consent, limiting message content to non-sensitive details (e.g., appointment dates and times), notifying the patient of potential risks, using a HIPAA-compliant messaging platform, and offering opt-out mechanisms.
Only the minimum necessary non-medical details: appointment date, time, provider name, and a simple rescheduling/cancellation mechanism. Avoid mentioning diagnosis, treatment, location specifics, or medical conditions unless explicitly authorized.
Yes. You need explicit patient consent (written or documented) that explains the risks of text messaging and gives them the option to opt out. Without documented consent, issuing SMS reminders can violate HIPAA or TCPA rules.
Yes. Any third-party reminder or messaging platform that creates, receives, or transmits protected health information (PHI) must sign a BAA. The agreement confirms the vendor will protect data, report issues, and hold its partners to the same standards. Without one, your organization could face penalties even if no breach occurs.
Yes, but only if the fallback method is handled in a HIPAA-safe way. If SMS fails, you may switch to a voice call, voicemail, or email reminder. However, the system used must also encrypt or otherwise protect PHI, track access and logs, enforce user authentication, and respect patients' communication preferences. For email fallback, only send PHI if the patient has agreed to receive electronic notices.
Possibly. While HIPAA allows appointment reminders as part of treatment or operations, TCPA and FCC rules set additional limits. These include restrictions on autodialing, message frequency, and a requirement to provide clear opt-out options. Healthcare providers can only contact patients three times a week for specific purposes (such as appointment reminders), and the FCC also caps reminder calls at 60 seconds and text messages at 160 characters.
Yes, but only if the link directs to a secure (HTTPS) portal and does not contain PHI in the message text itself. The link can encourage the patient to log in to a secure environment to view details.
Yes, the best practice is to reconfirm messaging consent periodically and always provide an easy opt-out option (e.g., “Reply STOP”). You should document opt-outs immediately and cease further contact.
To use Apptoto's HIPAA-compliant features, sign up for a free account and subscribe to a HIPAA-compliant plan. If you're on a group plan or higher, request a signed BAA, by emailing your company name, compliance officer, and address to support@apptoto.com.
