More and more healthcare marketers are trying to simplify their patient communications and outreach marketing into one system. HubSpot is a great option for this, but there's a challenge that needs to be overcome: sending emails with PHI from HubSpot doesn't meet encryption standards. Discover how healthcare marketers can navigate the complexities of sending HIPAA-compliant emails using HubSpot and maintain complete control over patient communications and marketing.
Understanding HIPAA Compliance and HubSpot's Limitations
Healthcare marketers should be familiar with the strict rules around handling Protected Health Information (PHI). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires anyone dealing with PHI to have strong security measures in place to keep that data safe.
While HubSpot offers a fantastic array of marketing tools, it's worth noting that its built-in email marketing features don't meet HIPAA standards.
You may be thinking, "But I thought I saw that HubSpot is HIPAA compliant."
HubSpot has made strides in accommodating healthcare marketers by introducing features that allow for the storage of sensitive data. These features enable marketers to securely store PHI within the HubSpot platform, ensuring that the data adheres to HIPAA compliance requirements.
You are able to build lists, create workflows and use other aspects of the platform with sensitive data.
But as a marketer, you probably want to be able to communicate with patients using the tools you know and love in HubSpot.
Although HubSpot does provide some HIPAA-compliant features, like storing sensitive data and using it to create workflows, the challenge is that you can't include anything related to PHI when sending emails through HubSpot's email tool.
Sending general marketing emails that cover broad educational topics is acceptable, but reaching out to prompt someone to schedule an appointment after not seeing them for a long time is not an acceptable use of HubSpot unless you change how the email is delivered to the patient.
Challenges of Managing Patient Communication Across Different Systems
Given HubSpot's limitations with patient retention communications and email marketing involving PHI, healthcare marketers are often left with not sending any personalized emails as part of their marketing campaigns.
Marketers could turn to another HIPAA-compliant platform, but those tools are often not as easy to use as HubSpot. You're left knowing that things could be so much better!
Using separate systems to manage patient marketing introduces a new set of challenges. Data ends up being fragmented across different platforms, making it difficult for marketing teams to maintain a cohesive view of the patient journey and show a return on marketing spend.
Plus, it just makes you, as the marketer, less efficient.
Integrating a HIPAA-Compliant Email Platform with HubSpot
Fortunately, there is a solution that allows healthcare marketers to overcome these obstacles.
By integrating a HIPAA-compliant email API, such as Paubox, with HubSpot, marketers can maintain control over the email experience while ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations.
Imagine building your emails in HubSpot and then sending them using a secure, HIPAA-compliant service. This would make the marketer and the security team happy—a win-win!
By using HubSpot workflows that are triggered by patient-sensitive data, such as last appointment date, you can send many different types of patient communication via HubSpot that otherwise would not be HIPAA-compliant.
Types of HIPAA-compliant marketing emails that you can send:
- Appointment reminders and appointment scheduling prompts
- Visit follow-up
- Educational information tailored to their condition
- Registration and intake forms
While HubSpot's workflow and automation features are used to trigger emails based on specific criteria (including PHI), the actual sending of the emails is handled by the HIPAA-compliant email API. This method ensures that sensitive data can be used to personalize and trigger email communications without compromising compliance.
Start Sending HIPAA-Compliant Email With HubSpot
While HubSpot's native capabilities don't fully support HIPAA-compliant email marketing, integrating a HIPAA-compliant email API offers a viable solution for healthcare marketers. This approach allows you to leverage HubSpot's robust marketing tools while ensuring compliance with stringent data protection regulations.
However, it's important to note that implementing this solution requires a certain level of technical expertise, particularly in configuring HubSpot to work with external APIs.
For those ready to embrace this integration, HubSpot can indeed become a comprehensive platform for managing all patient marketing and communication needs, including those involving PHI.
If you aren't comfortable setting up an API to make the connection between HubSpot and Paubox, or you're unsure if you need to be concerned about PHI in emails, don't hesitate to reach out to our team for expert guidance.
