Top 6 electronic consent software tools for healthcare

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal law all healthcare institutions must comply with. It was created to regulate how protected health information (PHI) — think patient names, addresses, phone numbers, and medical records — is used, secured, and disclosed. With HIPAA’s Privacy Rule specifically, the goal is clear: Administer high-quality healthcare while simultaneously protecting the personal, private data of those seeking care.

So, to enable HIPAA compliance — whether you work at a small practice or in a massive healthcare system with multiple locations and campuses — your organization needs to set itself up for success, which is where electronic consent software can be especially helpful. E-consent software helps healthcare facilities

• Protect the privacy of their patients through HIPAA-friendly forms and signed business associate agreements (BAAs), which are legal agreements between hospitals and vendors about how PHI is accessed, transmitted, and stored
• Streamline their online consent process from beginning to end, including providing patients with clear, legally required instruction about PHI collection and direct, secure access to documents that need their e-signatures
• Reduce the likelihood of data security breaches
• Automate administrative processes to save time and money across the organization
• Meet data-privacy compliance requirements

And while there are many electronic consent software options to choose from, here are six of the best offerings for your healthcare practice.

1. Updox

If you’re looking to improve your patient care experience, productivity, and profitability, you should add Updox to your shortlist of electronic consent software choices. More than 470,000 users trust Updox. Whether you primarily run an in-person or virtual practice, you can use it to send safe, secure, HIPAA-friendly electronic forms, appointment reminders, and text messages to your patients from one platform. Even its video chat feature is HIPAA-friendly.

Updox is easy to use, comprehensive, and secure, so colleagues and patients alike can use it to send and receive confidential documents. Plus, thanks to its customizable patient portal, your clients can have 24-7 access to medical records, healthcare resources, and self-scheduling options.

2. CareCloud

From patient experience management and healthcare analytics to telehealth and electronic health records, healthcare information technology company CareCloud has all the tools you need to run an organized, thriving healthcare facility. With it, you can streamline your workflows and simplify everyday operations for each member of your team.

CareCloud allows you to optimize the patient experience with contactless check-in, telehealth appointments, and secure payment collection and processing. Create a customizable reporting dashboard for an up-to-date look at all your data. Most importantly, you can consistently maintain compliance by shifting the administrative burden of releasing medical information to CareCloud’s expert team of researchers and data retrievers — i.e., people well versed in state and federal data laws and regulations.

3. Jotform

When you’re looking for electronic consent software, don’t overlook Jotform — one of the best electronic consent software tools for healthcare because of its HIPAA-friendly consent forms. Not only is building HIPAA-friendly consent forms quick, easy, and code-free with Jotform, but so is collecting, sharing, and storing them, thanks to its high-level security and form encryption. And with Jotform Sign, you can also collect legally binding electronic signatures to confirm consent.

Here’s how it works: With Jotform’s drag-and-drop functionality, you can customize your medical forms and documents to fit your needs — adding fillable form fields for patient name, treatment plan, associated risks, agreement or refusal to receive treatment, and e-signatures. Then, once a patient completes and submits the form, you’ll be notified via email. You can access form data in Jotform Tables, automatically send it to your secure cloud storage provider, or print it out for your paper filing system.

4. Curogram

Texting and telehealth platform Curogram is your all-in-one solution to smarter, more efficient patient experience and medical practice management. Simplify patient bookings and communication with HIPAA-friendly, two-way texting and electronic intake forms. Improve productivity and profitability through automated administrative processes and workflows. Decrease the likelihood of cybersecurity breaches with secure, encrypted data.

Plus, Curogram promises to reduce patient no-shows by up to 75 percent. You can track the cost of no-shows for your practice with their customized ROI estimate form. If you provide information like the number of scheduled appointments per day and average revenue per appointment, Curogram will generate a personalized report that shows how much revenue you’re missing out on per day and year.

5. Accountable

Next on the list of electronic consent software is Accountable, which is built for healthcare facilities of all sizes. Using Accountable, you can ensure you’re in compliance with all major data privacy laws — including HIPAA, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). You can also provide employees with security awareness training and create and manage company-wide security policies and procedures with customizable templates.

Accountable’s team of experts is available to guide you every step of the way, helping you reduce financial risk, stay vigilant against data breaches, and build trust with your patients.

6. MedForward

With compliance management system MedForward, you can create branded, digital intake forms to ensure you have an organized and streamlined patient intake process. By allowing your patients to complete HIPAA-friendly online forms before they arrive in your office, you can save time, reduce typographical errors, and ensure all their personal and medical information is kept private. MedForward’s HIPAA-friendly forms encrypt form data, use a protected secure sockets layer (SSL) connection, and are accessible to patients via your website or a secure URL.

While data protection may not be one of the most exciting parts of your busy work day, it is one of the most important, especially in the healthcare industry. By implementing electronic consent software into your medical facility, you will be not only better informed about ever-changing data laws, but you’ll also be much more likely to maintain compliance, reduce the risk of data breaches, and protect your patients’ sensitive information.

AS ALWAYS, CONSULT AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RELYING ON ANY FORM CONTRACT OR  CONTRACT TEMPLATE. THE CONTENT ABOVE IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.

Photo by Sasha Kim