Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
In the healthcare industry, safeguarding patient information isn’t just a best practice—it’s the law. The stringent regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protect patients’ privacy and the security of their health information. While providers use electronic health record (EHR) systems to store patients’ health records digitally, they increasingly integrate those systems with customer relationship platforms (CRMs) like Salesforce to manage patient data and interactions.
Like EHR systems, CRMs and any third-party integrations they use must meet HIPAA compliance standards if they transmit or store private patient health information (e.g., appointment reminders). Therefore, finding an appointment management platform that is HIPAA-compliant and integrates seamlessly with Salesforce is crucial. Learn about leveraging Salesforce’s healthcare data with automated appointment management software, all while adhering to the highest data protection standards.
The Importance of HIPAA-Compliance in Healthcare Communication
HIPAA is the cornerstone of patient data privacy in the United States, establishing requirements for using, disclosing, and safeguarding protected health information (PHI). Healthcare providers must safeguard their patients’ health information, as should any other entities that receive patients’ PHI. This includes, but is not limited to, insurance companies, healthcare clearinghouses, billing companies, and business associates (such as Salesforce).
Any identifiable health information transmitted or maintained in any form or medium is Protected Health Information (PHI). If this information is transmitted electronically, it is referred to as ePHI. This includes information such as a patient’s:
- Medical history
- Diagnosis
- Treatment plans
- Test results
A patient’s demographic information (name, address, date of birth, social security number) is also considered PHI if linked to their medical records. Thanks to HIPAA, patients have stricter control over how their health records are used and to which entities they are disclosed. For example, the HIPAA Privacy Rule ensures a patient must grant consent for one healthcare provider to disclose their information to another when medically necessary. It also guarantees that measures are in place to transmit the information securely. Non-compliance can result in severe legal implications, hefty fines, and damage to the healthcare provider’s reputation.
The Role of Salesforce in Managing Patient Data
Salesforce offers healthcare providers a robust, customizable platform to manage patient data while enhancing patient engagement and care coordination. While not the only HIPAA-compliant Salesforce solution, Health Cloud is the most customized one for the healthcare industry. The platform aims to help healthcare providers transition from basic “medical records management to a focus on patient relationships.” It does so by providing comprehensive clinical (medical diagnoses, treatment plans, etc.) and non-clinical (demographics, contact preferences) patient profiles via “Patient 360,” streamlining provider task and care management for “smarter patient management,” and enhancing caregiver collaboration through “Connected Patient Engagement.”
Along with Health Cloud, Salesforce offers 44 additional products and services that comprise Salesforce’s “HIPAA Covered Services.” For example, Marketing Cloud Growth, Sales Cloud, and Salesforce Payments are all non-healthcare-specific products that can use or transmit patient data in a HIPAA-compliant manner. However, it should be noted that to do so, a healthcare provider must follow the restrictions set forth by Salesforce on a product-by-product basis and must comply with the terms of Salesforce’s Business Associate Agreement for the use and disclosure of PHI/ePHI.
Sending HIPAA-Compliant Patient Appointment Messages
One area where healthcare organizations may choose a third-party integration to manage patient interactions is appointment management. Many apps within Salesforce’s AppExchange ecosystem offer more specialized appointment messaging and scheduling features, advanced automation and customization, and alternative integrations than the CRM can support. Regardless of the reason, a healthcare provider must integrate a HIPAA-compliant solution with Salesforce to ensure all patient communications are private and secure.
Introducing Apptoto
Apptoto is one such solution that integrates with Salesforce to provide a suite of tools that streamlines appointment scheduling and reminders for healthcare organizations while ensuring patient information security. Healthcare providers can benefit from automated reminders, customizable messaging, and seamless integration with existing calendars, all within a HIPAA-compliant framework. Full details of Apptoto’s security measures and patient data protection policies can be found here: Apptoto’s HIPAA-Compliance documentation.
Getting Started
Before launching an automated patient messaging system, a healthcare provider should ensure their chosen solution integrates with Salesforce and offers HIPAA-compliant messaging. While the steps below speak to Apptoto specifically, healthcare providers should follow the steps below to get started regardless of the solution they choose.
Sync your Appointment Calendar(s) and Contacts
Most healthcare systems likely have detailed appointment calendars and workflows in place and don’t want to undergo complex transitions to new software solutions. Therefore, finding an appointment management solution that integrates with your existing calendaring system is essential. With Apptoto, healthcare systems can easily sync their office’s calendars and contacts from Salesforce within a few minutes. Thanks to the two-way integration with Salesforce, any newly added or changed appointments will automatically sync across platforms regardless of which system they are managed in.
Syncing your calendars, appointments, and address books from Salesforce accomplishes four key things:
- Provides a unified view of all of your office’s upcoming appointments
- Helps you identify appointments you need to create messaging strategies for
- Syncs patient contact information and other standard/custom Salesforce data to be used in messaging
- Allows you to monitor appointment confirmation statuses/changes
Create Messaging Strategy and Cadence
Your providers and appointment types aren’t all homogenous, nor are your patients’ communication preferences. Your appointment management platform should be flexible enough to accommodate your office’s unique needs. Apptoto allows providers to create diverse messaging strategies that cater to the unique needs of different providers, appointment types, patient communication preferences, and more.
Whether for booking confirmations, appointment reminders, or follow-ups, Apptoto enables healthcare offices to set the right timing and communication method for every patient scenario. For instance, you may want a routine annual appointment to receive an appointment booking confirmation message with three appointment reminders. Alternatively, you might decide that for a last-minute (<24 hours) booking, it’s only appropriate for the patient to receive one reminder pre-visit. Likewise, you may want to differentiate messaging between a new patient (requiring them to fill out an intake form and arrive early) versus an established patient, or a virtual visit versus an in-person visit. Apptoto has you covered.
It’s also important to consider your patients’ communication preferences. Some patients may prefer phone calls, while others only want text or email reminders. All are effective and legal ways to communicate with patients about upcoming appointments under HIPAA requirements. A flexible solution like Apptoto allows you to combine all three in your sequences while also letting patients opt out of receiving communication methods they dislike.
Ensure Messages are HIPAA-Complaint
Part of ensuring appointment reminder messages are HIPAA compliant is ensuring the privacy of sensitive PHI. There’s always a chance that someone other than the patient may view or hear the appointment message. As such, you should not include detailed information about a patient’s appointment, medical diagnosis, or treatment in the message.
Apptoto’s default HIPAA-compliant message templates only include the date and time of a patient’s appointment, the provider’s name or company, and the location of the appointment. However, you can refine these messages further to remove the provider’s name or company if deemed too sensitive.
With Apptoto, you can use standard or custom Salesforce fields to dynamically insert custom data for your patients into your appointment messages (other than those noted above). However, it is critical to ensure that no PHI is accidentally inserted into messages.
Launch and Monitor
Once you’ve launched your automated appointment messaging and reminder system, the next step is to monitor its performance and ensure ongoing HIPAA compliance. Apptoto provides tools for regularly monitoring scheduled appointments, patient confirmations/responses, and message delivery reports so you can make necessary adjustments to your strategies. Of course, periodic audits should be conducted to ensure that your staff manages PHI correctly and all communications remain secure within the Apptoto and Salesforce ecosystem.
Integrating Salesforce with Apptoto for Patient Appointment Messaging
By choosing Apptoto, healthcare providers can confidently manage patient appointments and communications, knowing they have a reliable, HIPAA-compliant solution that fully integrates with Salesforce.
To integrate Salesforce with Apptoto, please follow the steps below:
- Connect your Salesforce Account to Apptoto
- Notify the Apptoto team you are a healthcare provider (requiring HIPAA/signed BAA)*
- Follow Apptoto’s Getting Started Guide to:
- Connect your Salesforce Calendars and Contacts (aka Address Books)
- Configure Rules for your Auto Messages
- Utilize Apptoto’s HIPAA-approved templates or those approved by your compliance department
- Add Custom Fields to Auto Messages or Bulk Messaging Campaigns
- Launch your automated appointment messaging campaigns
- Optional:
*Apptoto’s 14-day free trial is not HIPAA-compliant, so we recommend that healthcare providers only send test messages (or those your compliance department deems acceptable) during this time.
*If you’d like to try the full Salesforce integration with HIPAA compliance, Apptoto offers a paid trial with a 30-day money-back guarantee. If you choose not to continue after the trial period, Apptoto will refund your business.
Delivering HIPAA-Compliant Patient Appointment Messaging with Confidence
The integration of Apptoto and Salesforce represents a significant advancement in secure patient appointment messaging. By ensuring HIPAA compliance, healthcare providers can protect patient data while enhancing the efficiency of their communication strategies. Explore the benefits of Apptoto and Salesforce for your healthcare organization and move toward a more secure and compliant future.
Ready to take the next step in patient communication and data security? Sign up for Apptoto and seamlessly integrate with Salesforce to ensure HIPAA compliance and enhance patient engagement.
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Product Marketing Manager
