The HIPAA Privacy Rule and Marketing Communications

Protecting patient information is an important task for any health care provider. The Heath Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), also known as the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information, was approved by the United States Congress in 1996. It was the first act to provide national regulations for the use of patient health information. This privacy rule outlines the boundaries for the use of personal health information, including specific guidelines to ensure HIPAA-compliance. In order to market under HIPAA, there are certain privacy rules in place to protect patients. According to HIPAA, marketing is defined as “a communication about a product or service that encourages recipients to purchase or use the product or service”2. This definition can include any type of marketing communication. Marketing also includes when a covered entity is paid by a third party for patient health information that they can use for their own purposes. It also covers cases of an associate communicating and encouraging patients to buy or use their product or service.

Covered entities, which include health providers, health plans, and health care clearinghouses, must receive authorization to use patient’s health information for marketing but there are a few exceptions to this rule. Marketing activities that are permitted without prior authorization include face-to-face encounters as well as giving promotional gifts of little value, such as pens or mugs. A good example of this would be a covered entity giving new mothers a free sample of baby products as they leave the hospital. Covered entities may discuss the health benefits of a product or service to a patient, along with describing health plan options, ...

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...portant that the health care provider understands when authorization from the patient must be obtained and when it is not needed. Knowledge of the HIPAA Privacy Rule is essential for any health care provider as well as their staff in order to ensure that any marketing communications are HIPAA compliant.

Works Cited

1) Association for Healthcare Philanthropy. Question 5 – Newsletters, Patient Education. Retrieved from http://www.ahp.org/advocacy/us/HIPAA/Analysis/Pages/Question5Long.aspx

2) Direct Marketing Association (2002, August). The Privacy Provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Retrieved from http://www.dmaresponsibility.org/HIPPA/#III1

3) Johnson, P. (2011, September 6). HIPAA: How does it relate to marketing? Retrieved from http://www.oandp.com/blogs/marketing-matters/post/HIPAA-How-Does-It-Relate-to-Marketing.aspx