Electronic Signature for Healthcare

The HIPAA law has set specific standards for ePHI (electronically protected health information). While there’s no specific electronic signature policy for medical records, your primary care physician or health plan provider must ensure that the electronically signed document is legally binding and abides by the HIPAA rules. You should also ensure that your HIPAA-compliant esignature service has fully met the requirements set by the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-Sign Act) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA).

Using an electronic signature in healthcare also offers several benefits. By electronically signing a document, you can minimize the risks of data inconsistencies and human errors. For patients, this means better privacy and data security. For covered entities, this means having a better way to safeguard information.

By using esignatures, primary care practitioners and small businesses can facilitate transactions faster. There’s less time needed to sign documents such as HIPAA signature forms. Plus, it’s also easier to access and sign documents from anywhere. For example, an outpatient clinic may obtain the consent of the patient’s primary care physician through remote document signing. It does not only help save time and effort, but it also helps in building a more efficient document workflow. The staff can also focus on providing quality patient care instead of manually dealing with signature requests and other tedious paperwork.

Dealing with protected health information (PHI) requires an organization to comply with federal regulations. This includes the guidelines set by HIPAA, otherwise known as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. Under this United States Act, all covered entities and their associates should safeguard sensitive health information, especially when handling data in electronic form.

HIPAA compliance minimizes the risks and damages caused by data breaches and data loss. It also prohibits anyone from disclosing confidential information without proper consent or permission. Failure to abide by HIPAA guidelines is a federal offense that is subject to penalties and hefty fines.

By law, healthcare organizations and other covered entities must implement measures to comply with industry and privacy standards. HIPAA compliance serves as a determining factor on whether you should trust a particular service or institution to handle your sensitive information.

Your healthcare records contain sensitive information, including your medical diagnosis, health history, medications, etc. For your safety and privacy, you cannot simply let anyone gain a hold of this information. It is also the responsibility of your primary care provider to protect your information from being disclosed without your knowledge or consent.

Should there be a need to disclose your information to a third party, your hospital or primary care provider may seek your consent and ask you to sign a HIPAA authorization form. Your HIPAA form is a form that grants a particular person or covered entity the authority to share or disclose your information to another person, party, or business associate. Under the HIPAA federal law, all covered entities and their associates should abide by the national standards for safeguarding PHI (protected health information).

It is also important to note that a signed HIPAA form does not automatically mean “full disclosure” of PHI. Your doctor or care provider can only disclose whatever information is needed. The covered entity should also seek your consent and have you sign the form before disclosing your PHI. For example, your hospital should ask you to sign a HIPAA signature form before releasing your protected health information to your attorney or claims agent.

HIPAA applies to all covered entities and their business associates, including:

• health insurance companies
• health maintenance organizations (HMO)s
• company health plan
• federal health insurance agencies
• healthcare providers
• general practitioners
• mental health professionals
• healthcare clearinghouses
• pharmacies
• dentists
• clinics
• hospitals

Under federal law, these covered entities should safeguard protected health information (PHI), including a patient’s medical history, diagnoses, prescriptions, and lab results. Doing so will protect a business or organization institution from incurring penalties and fines.

Meanwhile, business associates of covered entities must also abide by HIPAA guidelines. Any entity that processes medical billing and healthcare claims must follow these standards, including those who provide their professional services such as accountants and lawyers.

Signing electronic medical records requires a HIPAA-compliant electronic signature app like Fill. When an eSignature app meets esign compliance, you can minimize the risks of having your sensitive health information leaked without your knowledge or consent. You can also make anyone who discloses your information without your healthcare signature legally liable and have them face the consequences of doing so.

With a HIPAA-compliant electronic signature app, you can safeguard your electronic medical records and maintain the privacy of your PHI (protected health information. You can also sign forms and documents faster, which helps improve the turnaround time of various healthcare processes. For primary care providers, this means less paperwork and a cost-efficient way to stay compliant with HIPAA and other federal regulations.

With Fill’s HIPAA esignature app, patients and healthcare providers can: 

• Fill out healthcare forms with a legally binding medical signature.
• Sign documents from anywhere, using any device.
• Speed up requests and reduce the waiting times
• Protect sensitive information with the highest level of encryption and keep medical records safe from unintentional disclosures or data leakage
• Easily connect with other EHRs and EMRs via API to instantly access and sign documents hosted on other systems or applications.
• Maintain full HIPAA compliance while meeting the requirements for record handling and retention

Healthcare automation enables hospitals to provide better patient care by simplifying complex tasks. It also allows health care institutions to speed up processes while avoiding the financial losses caused by lost files and human errors. With automated clinical processes, hospital staff can focus on meaningful work instead of wasting time on repetitive tasks like document printing and data entry.

Nowadays, hospitals must keep up with ever-changing patient demands, including the need to provide pre-approved forms for patient intake, scheduling, and appointments. It is also crucial to automate compliance processes to quickly identify and manage third-party risks and reduce the possibility of data breaches.

With Fill, hospitals and other healthcare providers can automate administrative tasks such as signing and tracking documents. It also allows institutions to provide a better patient experience, making it easier for patients to schedule or cancel appointments from their cell phones or laptops.