As a dental professional, knowing HIPAA regulations is essential to ensure that your practice remains compliant. However, HIPAA for dental offices can be confusing, as the requirements differ slightly from other healthcare practices. For example, some dentists do not meet the criteria to be a Covered Entity, and specific HIPAA laws vary by state. In addition, many dentists may not realize that HIPAA limits the communication methods between staff, providers, and patients.

If you’re in the gray area regarding HIPAA guidelines for dental practices, keep reading. We will explain some of the most important regulations and policies you need to know regarding communication restrictions and compliance for providers, staff, and patients.

HIPAA Compliance: The Basics

HIPAA is an acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which describes regulations and standards that healthcare providers must follow to ensure proper disclosure and use of protected health information (PHI).

The following types of patient information (contained in both digital and paper records) fall under PHI criteria:

• Names
• Addresses
• Phone numbers
• Medical records
• Social security numbers
• Facial photos
• Financial information
• Vehicle information
• Account numbers
• IP addresses
• Biometric identifiers

The HIPAA Security Rule has three requirements to protect PHI, including technical safeguards, administrative safeguards, and physical safeguards. Furthermore, it requires dentists to appoint a security officer to choose and employ HIPAA-compliant software systems

Essential Information Regarding HIPAA-Compliant Communications in Dental Practices

You may already know that your dental practice can be subject to a HIPAA audit at virtually any time. Therefore, it’s important to understand the limitations in place regarding communications to prevent failing an audit.

Text Messages

Texting is an effective form of communication between dental staff, but there’s one problem: a standard SMS message is not HIPAA compliant and, therefore, should never contain PHI regarding patients. One solution is implementing dental office communication software, like the Team Chat platform we offer here at Dental Intelligence.

Essentially, it allows dentists and their staff to communicate internally through a private platform and includes individual and group chat options. Plus, it improves efficiency, convenience, and patient experience by facilitating seamless staff communication.

Email

Another way to ensure HIPAA compliance regarding staff and patient communication is with a secured email platform. However, you may only disclose PHI in an email if you send it on a secure server using encrypted software. If you’re emailing on an unsecured server, you may not include any patient PHI.

Phone Calls and Voicemails

Any Business Associate or Covered Entity can leave a message in a voicemail inbox or answering machine, with a patient family member, or someone who answers their phone when the patient is unavailable to speak. However, you must make a “reasonable attempt” to limit the amount of PHI you disclose during communications that are not in person or face-to-face.

Letters and Postcards

HIPAA allows Business Associates to mail letters or postcards containing PHI to a patient's home (or if they have another mailing address) on behalf of a Covered Entity (that is, your dental practice). However, the best way to ensure that your office remains HIPAA-compliant is to limit the amount of PHI you disclose in physical correspondence to patients. In addition, many dentists have gone paperless or upgraded their office to a digital, cloud-based system that provides greater security and privacy than paper filing

Social Media

One gray area regarding HIPAA communication compliance is social media. Even a seemingly harmless post that contains a patient’s face without their consent can result in a violation. The most common mistakes or violations regarding HIPAA that healthcare workers commit on social media include:

• Posting photos with visible patient information, records, or documents
• Discussing or gossiping about patients (even without their names)
• Posting videos or photos of patients without explicit written consent
• Failing to check that social media posts are secure, private, or deleted
• Sharing PHI, videos, or images in a “private” social media group or messaging system that can identify a patient

HIPAA for Dental Offices: Communication Compliance and PHI

Although HIPAA for dental offices can be complex, your practice is still responsible for remaining fully compliant regarding PHI and communicating with staff, providers, and patients. However, upgrading to secure communication platforms and messaging systems, like the Dental Intelligence Team Chat, can make the process much simpler.

In addition, we offer innovative solutions for establishing relationships with your team, improving patient satisfaction, and streamlining your administrative tasks. Contact us at Dental Intelligence today to  request a demo of our cutting-edge technology.