When it comes to web conferencing apps, Zoom is a favorite worldwide. It’s a cloud-based platform that allows for multiple people to participate in a meeting, share files, and chat. Zoom is notoriously easy to use, which is one of the main reasons behind its popularity. But is Zoom HIPAA compliant for healthcare professionals?
Healthcare professionals around the globe have been using Zoom for telemedicine and telehealth purposes for some time. Does this popular platform comply with the rules of HIPAA?
As a third-party app to transmit electronic protected health information (ePHI), Zoom needs to enter into a HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA) with you to be considered HIPAA compliant. The company is willing to do so and offers a bunch of security measures for your Zoom account, such as:
To answer this question: yes, the web conferencing platform complies with HIPAA rules and regulations. Zoom has a HIPAA compliance guide that explains how it supports all HIPAA standards, such as access and audit controls, end-to-end encryption, and integrity mechanisms. However, Zoom’s security came into question when users started experiencing “Zoombombings,” where they were exposed to pornographic content or live, racist comments from uninvited users. The Department of Homeland Security also issued a report in 2020 citing that Zoom may be vulnerable to foreign surveillance. But in 2021, Zoom establishes updates that improve their security — making it suitable for use in healthcare.
Aside from potential hacks, Zoom isn’t the best telemedicine platform for various reasons, even if it is HIPAA compliant.
Zoom may be in compliance with HIPAA, the web conferencing platform still has no feature most healthcare needs. Below are five factors why a telemedicine platform in healthcare is better than Zoom:
Zoom requires patients to download an app to enter a video chat. While mobile apps are common, downloading and registering with an app is a cumbersome process, even for tech-savvy patients. Consumers have pages and pages of apps on their phones, and most don’t want another, especially when its use is infrequent. Most patients only see their healthcare provider 3-4 times a year, and not all visits can be via telemedicine, so downloading an app may be considered an annoyance.
Also, troubleshooting an app download before an appointment can be stressful for patients, doctors, and staff. Many times, troubleshooting results in a delay in the appointment, which can cause delays in a doctor’s overall schedule.
Zoom doesn’t do anything to make it easier for medical staff to do their job virtually. All the workflows an in-person office visit requires are still necessary for a virtual visit:
Also, front desk staff need to check out the patient and provide them with related documents such as a visit summary, treatment plan, prescription order, and referral documents.
Zoom does not provide any tools to enable the above workflows that virtual visits require.
One of the most important aspects of an in-person visit is the waiting room, where patients stay until the medical staff is ready to take them back to an exam room for their consultation. With Zoom, there’s no way to easily identify what patients are ready to see their provider.
Virtual visits require checking patients in, so offices need to collect intake forms, updated insurance cards, and copays. Zoom does not offer any tools to collect online patient intake forms or payments. That means the front office medical staff must use other methods or software tools to get the job done.
After a visit, patients are usually provided a visit summary, treatment plan/instructions, prescription order, or referral order. For an in-person visit, they often receive them when checking out. Virtual visits are no different. Zoom does not provide any HIPAA-compliant document transfer solutions to get patients the information they need, causing a problem for patients.
It’s imperative to understand how Zoom is not the best for telemedicine. Relying on a telemedicine solution such as Zoom that doesn't provide any workflow tools or integration with your practice management solution won’t get you far in your telemedicine journey.
If your patients are confused and frustrated by an app like Zoom that is buggy or difficult to use, they give up and won’t show up for the visit at all. That could also prompt them to leave a bad review of your practice on Google or Yelp, and reviews can make or break your practice.
Without mimicking natural workflows, EHR integration, and staff assistance, healthcare providers waste a lot of time per patient.
Workflows are important for staff. Without an all-encompassing solution, they must call patients to remind them about their visits, figure out how to collect intake documents remotely, manually send visit links, fax or mail patients important documents, and find a way to create this system without causing chaos.
A lack of telemedicine or telehealth tools could lead to a significant drop in your revenue. Dissatisfied patients leave, those who find the solution difficult to use give up, and bad reviews hurt your reputation. Your practice then sees fewer patients. Your staff will be stretched and not as efficient as usual. And your revenue decreases.
It’s important to acknowledge that every investment you make has risks, and telemedicine isn’t an exception. However, recognizing these potential consequences helps you avoid them because you know there is a better option than Zoom for telemedicine. Find a telemedicine software solution that works best for you that can greatly enhance your practice and take it to the next level.
Transitioning to telemedicine can be extremely difficult, especially if you don’t know what to look for in a sea of possible telemedicine solutions. The following are what you need from a telemedicine solution to be successful:
Choose a telemedicine platform that provides an effective feature that can improve patient experience. There is a telemedicine platform that sends an appointment link via text message. That way, patients don’t have to go through numerous steps or download an app before they can book an appointment.
Find a browser-based solution with no download requirements where healthcare providers can enter virtual appointments easily. Choose a telemedicine platform that is easy to use by staff and your patients.
Look for a platform that provides automated and custom reminders, plus full HIPAA-compliant 2-way texting. Your patients should be able to respond to your messages and reminders if they have any further questions or wish to reschedule. And you should be able to send reminders at any time, whether days in advance or 15 minutes before their virtual visit start time, and share ePHI without concern.
Your staff needs a HIPAA-compliant way of communicating amongst themselves. If staff is chatting over WhatsApp, FaceTime, or another non-HIPAA-compliant messaging app or their phones, you are liable for potential HIPAA violations, where fines can be in the tens of thousands of dollars if sensitive patient information is exposed.
Zoom does not offer any of the above necessities for a successful telemedicine platform. But, thankfully, solutions do exist that can exceed your expectations.
Curogram is a HIPAA-compliant solution designed specifically for healthcare providers and their patients. With our modern telemedicine platform that features 2-way texting, you won’t have to worry about fulfilling HIPAA requirements as we have all the safeguards in place.
Here are the problems you encounter with Zoom that Curogram solves:
Curogram integrates with virtually any EHR. You can easily synchronize your appointments from your EHR or practice management system, which means you only have to enter appointments once! Patients also automatically receive text and email reminders with a video chat link without any additional work from your staff. This integrated workflow eliminates
The integration process takes no more than 48 hours, thanks to our proprietary integration technology. You don’t have to deal with complicated and expensive HL7 interfaces that take months to complete and cost an arm and a leg.
To see for yourself how Curogram excels where Zoom fails for telemedicine, book a demo.
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Curogram |
Zoom |
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Easy Patient On-Boarding |
Yes |
No |
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Advanced Waiting Room Management Tools |
Yes |
No |
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Patient Intake Forms and Payment Requests |
Yes |
No |
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Document Transfer |
Yes |
No |