HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing – Best Free Video Therapy Software

Posted in Telemedicine

Overview – HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Software

Technological advancement is opening new avenues for telemedicine, creating possibilities out of hopelessness. Just for the start, with telemedicine technology, it is now possible for doctors and researchers to diagnose PTSD through voice samples.

However, just like in all other fields, there are potential complications involved with the technology takeover of the medical industry. For instance, there have been cases reported of overprescribing antibiotics for children by doctors. Nonetheless, these isolated cases don’t overshadow the potential benefits of telemedicine solution which in essence translates into:

• Lower cost
• Higher reach
• Better health care for people

Now, when it comes to telemedicine or digital health solutions, doctors and scientists need to be considerate of potential risks involved with the use of this technology and protect the health information of their patients. The Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations oblige healthcare practitioners to ensure the protection of patients’ data, especially in the context of telemedicine (video conferencing).

What Is Free HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Software?

When assessing web conferencing programming, clients consider fundamental elements like greatest gathering size and length, reconciliation with other group joint effort devices, and explicit highlights like screen sharing capacities and recording abilities.

Yet, for clinical experts, tracking down a free HIPAA-compliant video conferencing is presently more critical than any time in recent memory, as projections propose that before the finish of 2021, patients will have gone to more than a billion telemedical arrangements.

Clinical experts should comprehend the distinction between open confronting and private web conferencing instruments to guarantee they’re utilizing HITECH as well as HIPAA-compliant video conferencing software both during and after the pandemic.

A free HIPAA video conferencing arrangement permits medical services experts to give a similar degree of patient consideration inside and outside of their facilities.

To urge clinical experts to give virtual medical care to their patients during the pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Administration decided to practice authorization attentiveness.

This implies that the HHS didn’t force HIPAA infringement punishments against physicians utilizing video gathering instruments to give any kind of clinical consideration by some basic honesty during the covid emergency.

A few renowned HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Tools are:

• Zoom for Healthcare
• VSee
• GoToMeeting
• me
• SimplePractice Telehealth
• Thera-LINK
• RingCentral for Healthcare

What is HIPAA Compliant Video Chat Conferencing? 

On the off chance that you work in the medical services industry, you’re now mindful of the requirement for HIPAA compliance. Most clinical suppliers have measures set up to guarantee HIPAA compliance in all material spaces of their training.

Notwithstanding, on the off chance that you require video conferencing to convey care, your innovation arrangement should be predictable with the guidelines of HIPAA.

More or less, HIPAA compliance implies that any product used to store or impart information about patients’ very own well-being data needs to cling to severe security and protection guidelines. How about we investigate what that involves?

HIPAA Execution Basics

• End-to-End Encryption

One of the basic contemplations with regard to video conferencing is guaranteeing that agitators and unapproved outsiders can’t access the video call or the information produced throughout the call.

End-to-end encryption is the brilliant norm for HIPAA compliance since it implies that solitary gadgets used to settle on the video decision approach the encryption key.

• Peer-to-Peer Association

Another significant inquiry to consider is directing. Does the video interface your PC or handheld gadget straightforwardly to your patient’s gadget, or does it get steered through a worker? Direct peer-to-peer steering makes for a lot quicker and better-quality video conferencing and offers security benefits.

• BAAs

Business Partner Arrangements (BAAs) are another fundamental part of HIPAA compliance. This understanding specifies that all concerned gatherings will take dynamic measures to guarantee that secured well-being data is properly defended.

• Unplanned Infringement

While tools like Zoom may qualify as HIPAA-compliant, if by chance they turn off specific highlights for medical services clients, you could in any case disregard HIPAA guidelines basically by sending your patient a gathering greeting or accidentally storing their data in your Zoom account.

What is HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Therapy? 

As indicated by the American Telemedicine Affiliation, telemedicine and telehealth can be compatible and are the normal development of medical services in the advanced world. They likewise state how telehealth undeniably improves the quality, value, and reasonableness of medical services all through the world.

Even though they can be utilized reciprocally, telehealth is a more extensive term than telemedicine.

Telemedicine is a particular sort of telehealth that includes a clinician giving some sort of clinical benefits and can incorporate, however, isn’t restricted to, the accompanying applications: the utilization of video conferencing for patient interviews, patient entrances and additionally sending pictures for determination, far off observing of essential signs, and nursing call focuses.

Telehealth could likewise incorporate proceeding with clinical schooling on the web and shopper-centered remote applications, for example, a general well-being application telling of an illness episode.

Utilizing HIPAA-compliant video conferencing therapy has numerous advantages and can change how patients are treated across the world.

Why Need To Build a HIPAA Compliant Video Chat Platform?

While explicit HIPAA rules oversee customary in-office medical care conveyance, there is a subset of HIPAA especially pertinent in the computerized time. Congress anticipated the advanced progress of medical services PHI with the subset of the HIPAA enactment called the HIPAA Security Rule.

The HIPAA Security Rule oversees the advanced progression of information in medical care conveyance. Consistency with these rules requires any PHI made, got, kept up, or sent to stay private and ensured.

 It requires medical care suppliers, regardless of their size, to guarantee the information is shielded from break or danger. Each representative that interacts with computerized PHI should stay inconsistent with the HIPAA Security Rule.

The issue is that cybersecurity keeps on representing a genuine threat to computerized information. The HIPAA Diary says the ordinary pace of digital break on ensured medical care information is one episode each day in the US.

 At the point when you consider that each break could influence hundreds or thousands of patient records and that every occurrence cost an exorbitant amount in HIPAA consistency fines, medical services suppliers ought to be progressively worried about information security.

Information breaches cost medical care suppliers a normal of $6.5 million every year — and those numbers are rising.

It is for these reasons that HIPAA secure video conferencing is so critical to your clinical group. As medical care suppliers increment their utilization of video conferencing to give care, they should likewise practice alert in choosing a HIPAA-agreeable video stage to guarantee patient information remains careful.

These administrations can:

• Guarantee patients get extraordinary consideration from the best-trained professionals.
• Help patients in overseeing constant conditions.
• Assist clinical experts with accomplishing well-being results.
• Decrease clinical overhead expenses.
• Slice expensive and superfluous excursions to the trauma center.
• Give great consideration to patients rapidly and advantageously.

How To Make Secure HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing?

Building any video conferencing software without any preparation is colossally intricate and takes a great deal of time and assets.

It’s a whole lot simpler to just utilize an industry-driving video conferencing instrument that is HIPAA-compliant right out of the case and coordinate that into your telehealth application or stage.

In any case, it’s essential that you select a video Programming interface that has worked in light of HIPAA compliance from the beginning, rather than picking one where it was simply added as an untimely idea.

Here are a few hints for picking a HIPAA-compliant video-conferencing merchant:

• Ensure they offer a BAA.
• Check whether they offer to start to finish encryption and which encryption standard they use.
• Find out if the calls are steered through a worker or distributed.
• Ask concerning their entrance control just as review control norms.
• Discover what shields they have set up.
• Understand audits and tributes from other medical care industry experts that have utilized their software.

With this information, you can have confidence that your primary care physician to-patient video calls just as conversations among associates and discussions with experts will remain safely scrambled and 100% HIPAA-compliant.

What Is A White-Label HIPAA Software Solution?

White Label HIPAA Software will be software that an organization uses and brands it as its software. More often than not, White Label HIPAA Software is sold under the software as a Service (SaaS) model.

Generally, the organization utilizing the software is “renting” or “leasing” the software under a month-to-month or yearly membership. There are numerous reasons organizations utilize white-labeled software items thusly.

White-label HIPAA software is given unbranded to an affiliate. The affiliate adds their marking or essentially eliminates the first marking and afterward offers admittance to the stage as though they created it.

Customers ordinarily don’t realize that this is the situation. Notwithstanding, lacking techniques in securing the white label can make clients mindful of the white label course of action.

Around there, end customers will now and then attempt to “go around” the affiliate and access the software straightforwardly with the expectation that they can buy access for less.

For most organizations, white labeling is quite possibly the most effective approach to add more contributions to your portfolio, enter another market, or extend and gain by extra administrations that they don’t as of now give.

Planning, Execution, Testing, and Carrying out the software for either inner or outer use requires a great deal of preparation and time.

Rather than putting away this time and cash developing the software starting from the earliest stage, can ordinarily get a completely working and demonstrated white-labeled software stage up quite expeditiously with much less capital cost.

On the off chance that you don’t have the opportunity, assets, or range of abilities to plan and assemble a custom arrangement, at that point white labeling is doubtlessly the best methodology to achieve your software objectives.

What Is Open-Source HIPAA Compliant Software?

• Open-source HIPAA-compliant software is a kind of program where source code is delivered under a permit in which the copyright holder awards clients the rights to utilize, study, change, and appropriate the software to anybody and for any reason.
• Open-source software might be created in a shared public way. Open-source software is a conspicuous illustration of open cooperation.
• A screen capture of Linux Mint running the Xfce work area climate, Mozilla Firefox perusing Wikipedia fueled by MediaWiki, an adding machine program, the inherent schedule, Vim, GIMP, and the VLC media player, which are all open-source software.
• Open-source HIPAA-compliant software advancement can get assorted viewpoints past those of a solitary organization.
• A 2008 report by the Standish Gathering expressed that the selection of open-source software models has brought about investment funds of about $60 billion (£48 billion) every year for shoppers.
• Open-source HIPAA-compliant software is generally simpler to get than exclusive software, regularly bringing about expanded use.
• Furthermore, the accessibility of an open-source execution of a standard can build reception of that norm.
• It has likewise assisted with building engineer dedication as designers feel enabled and have a feeling of responsibility for finished results.

Additionally, lower expenses of advertising and calculated administrations are required for OSS. It is a decent apparatus to advance an organization’s picture, including its business products.] The OSS improvement approach has helped produce solid, excellent software rapidly and economically.

Benefits Of HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Apps 

Telehealth or telemedicine technology is fast becoming a norm in the healthcare industry. With the strong growth in the telehealth industry expected in the future, healthcare providers and consumers are increasingly looking for HIPAA-compliant video conferencing services, which can address the concerns related to cybercrimes and data theft.

When we talk about telehealth or telemedicine, the biggest concern is protecting the privacy and sanctity of patients’ data, because a single data breach may result in a loss of customers’ trust in health practitioners and subsequent loss in business. In fact, a data breach doesn’t just translate into the loss of patients’ trust, but it also makes health practitioners liable to hefty fines and lawsuits. To put in perspective the cost of negligence in telehealth, the Office for Civil Rights put up penalties amounting to USD 25 million in 2018, due to data breaches.

Unfortunately, the majority of HIPAA violations occur due to negligence on part of health practitioners. And to make matters worse, the HIPAA rules are intricate and complex, and understanding the complete scope of the rules is the first step to ensure compliance. An important step to avoid these grave concerns is by choosing the right HIPPA-compliant video conferencing service.

Check out our detailed guide on telemedicine benefits.

How HIPAA-Compliant Video Conferencing Works For Patients And Practitioners?

HIPAA-compliant telemedicine is meant to protect the sanctity of patients’ data. The HIPAA rules clearly define the guidelines for the transfer and storage of patients’ data on digital channels, as well as, details about the required encryption, authentication, and use of data and audit trials. In short, under the HIPAA rules, both healthcare providers and video conferencing vendors are entrusted with the protection of patients’ data.

This means that HIPPA-compliant telemedicine shares the responsibility with healthcare providers and video conferencing vendors through a business associate agreement (BAA). This agreement outlines the responsibilities and duties of healthcare providers and video conferencing vendors, as well as, acts as an accountability obligation in case of a HIPAA breach.

Due to the grave consequence of the data breach under HIPAA rules, many tech giants like Apple and Skype have decided to stay out of the industry. However, the same has also opened up opportunities for other tech players to embrace the challenges and claim their share in the telemedicine and larger video conferencing market.

Still, software service providers who do claim to offer HIPPA-compliant video therapy may breach HIPPA rules, because all it takes to violate the rules is a single untrained staff or a single incident of negligence to unintentionally sends the patients’ data to the wrong address.

Thereby, even choosing the best HIPAA-compliant telemedicine software doesn’t guarantee complete compliance on the healthcare end, and it should be made part of the integrated security system.

Pre-Requisites Before Using Any HIPAA-Compliant Video Conferencing Software

So, now you must be wondering about the best practices to ensure choosing the right HIPAA-compliant video conferencing solution, right?

Well, below we have come up with some of the most important factors for healthcare providers to consider when looking to partner with a HIPPA-compliant video conferencing service provider:

• What are the needs of your patients’? Do they have prior experience in using video conferencing technology? Which software they are already using? Will they be able to transition to the new software easily?
• Where your patients’ are located? That’s important because internet connectivity and speed aren’t constant across all parts of the world or even across different parts of one country. If there’s low internet connectivity access to patients’ you may have to go with high-end software that ensures connectivity regardless of internet strength
• Do you want to go with free HIPAA-compliant video conferencing or you would like to go with paid software to ensure quality and compliance with HIPPA rules?
• Does the software you intend to use already used by other healthcare providers? While much HIPPA-compliant software offers a free trial version, it may not be a good idea to water months of testing with different software. Instead, look out for what other healthcare providers are using or even ask for reviews or recommendations
• Will the HIPPA-compliant software sign the BAA? Many free HIPPA-compliant video conferencing software may not be ready to sign BAA, which will push you toward grave consequences in any case of a data breach
• Check out the authentication and access control used by the software. It’s important to choose software that maintains a fine balance between usability and measures to control unauthorized access. Some software offers a dual-step identification process to negate any unauthorized access to the data
• Does the software offer end-to-end encryption? Remember, there are various kinds of encryptions and it’s important to identify the latest encryption type to ensure security.
• Also, it is important to check if the software is capable of integrating with your existing workflow. Few healthcare providers maintain the personal ecosystem for data storage, and the video conferencing software must be compatible to integrate with the existing infrastructure and other software like billing services or patients management
• What’s the cost of the video conferencing software? Again, not only you would have to compare the pricing, but also the features and compliance level offered by individual software. Not to forget to compare the software compatibility to the end-users needs.

List of Best HIPAA-Compliant Video Conferencing Solutions

1. ClinicLive HIPAA-compliant video conferencing platforms

ClinicLive is an integrated telemedicine software that offers healthcare providers a comprehensive platform to take their business further by offering telehealth services. ClinicLive offers HIPPA-compliant video conferencing services, which makes it perfectly secure for storing patients’ key data. 

The interactive interface makes it easy to use for patients. The software enables doctors to offer virtual consultations to patients. It also features chronic disease management, enabling healthcare providers to monitor and respond promptly for early symptoms to remote populations.

Pros:

• Multi-tier practice users
• Secure & Reliable
• Easy & intuitive interface
• Comprehensive reporting

Cons:

– Needs stable internet connectivity to operate

Price:

Contact for price

2. Doxy. me

Doxy.me is undoubtedly one of the best and most widely-used software in the telemedicine and telehealth industry. To make it even better, the software offers free services for individual clinicians.

The interface of the Doxy.me is kept highly simple and interactive, where patients don’t have to install or log in anywhere, to connect and communicate with the healthcare providers. This is also the unique selling point (USP) for the software, as it enables health practitioners to easily get connected with patients, irrespective of their technical skills or familiarity.

Pros

• Support for multi-provider practice
• Patients’ queue management
• Easy setup
• Efficient customer support
• Interactive and easy-to-use interface

Cons

• No appointment reminders
• No appointment scheduling
• No e-prescribing
• Less capability on the practice management side
• Doesn’t integrate with EHRs

Price

While it’s free for individual clinicians, the cost starts at $29 per month per user for multi-providers and white labeling

3. HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Zoom

Zoom is quite a famous platform not just for telemedicine but as a larger video conferencing platform. In fact, it is considered one of the best video conferencing platforms, widely used by companies and businesses around the world. And because zoom also offers HIPPA compliance, it is also a great resource for the telemedicine industry. Honestly, whatever your reason for videoconferencing, zoom will work perfectly fine for you on any device and all internet strengths.

Pros

• Easy to use
• No download/installation or sign up for patients
• Wide-range application

Cons

• To get HIPAA compliance, a minimum of $200 monthly purchase is required
• Doesn’t integrate with EHRs
• No practice management features

4. Sherpaa

It’s not specifically software that can be used by healthcare providers, rather it’s a platform to offer telemedicine. It has its’ own doctors and makes matches for patients to doctors.

The platform also enables synchronous communication (texting) between patients and healthcare providers, which is unique when we look at users’ preferences in the technological landscape.

According to stats, iMessages processes about 40 billion messages per day, as compared to FaceTime which processes up to 20 million chats per day. Now, if we consider that people are more interested in texting their friends rather than video chatting, it’s a no-brainer to understand that they will feel more comfortable getting in touch with doctors through messages as well. And that’s where Sherpaa has struck the gold spot, by offering patients what they want.

Pros

• a video call option with doctors (only 2% of communication happens that day)
• It allows synchronous communication (text messaging)
• Sherpaa handles the insurance claims
• It also handles Co-pay billing

Cons

• Only operating with one hospital system
• No central repository for medical records

Price

Patients willing to use Sherpaa service need to pay $40 per month for the app that offers them access to email, and text messages to up to five to six doctors for a prescription, lab tests, and referrals

5. American Well

American Wall operates much similarly to Sherpaa in the sense that it enables patients to find doctors on a single platform (mobile app). However, where it does differ from Sherpaa is by offering SaaS, which allows healthcare providers to offer telemedicine as well.

Also, unlike Sherpaa, the American Wall is focused on the video call. Once the patient is logged in to the app, he/she can search from the list of doctors available. The available doctors are highlighted with a yellow circle around their names and users can queue for their turn.

Pros

• Integrates with Cerner
• Offer doctors better services than Sherpaa in terms of practice management
• Help doctors in dealing with insurance and physician workflow
• Handles appointment schedules
• Integrates with Apple health for remote monitoring

Cons

• Installation of the plugin is required to enable video-conferencing functionality

Price

Contact sales for pricing.

Top HIPAA Compliant Video Conferencing Free Telemedicine Therapy in 2024

1. Telehealth

telehealth is an open-source HIPAA-compliant video conferencing free software that enables community-based healthcare providers to provide primary medical treatment through telemedicine. The system comprises mobile apps for healthcare providers that are integrated with the cloud-based electronic health record system.

Key Features

• Enable medical data transmission to remote healthcare providers through audio and video consultation
• Works perfectly even with a low-bandwidth connection
• Can be used with low-cost devices
• Includes a knowledge-enabled expert system (HxGuide) to assist healthcare providers with the decision making
• Facilitates data reporting

2. Borboleta

Borboleta is yet another free telehealth software bringing good health and happiness to people. The software is focused on offering innovative technologies to improve health services for low-income people.

Key Features

• Patients’ data management (name, DOB, address, etc.)
• Stores data of patients’ caregiver (guardian or relative living with the patient)
• Reminders for scheduled visits
• Give access to patients’ history to healthcare providers
• Maintains catalog for medication and diseases
• Import/export medical records

3. GoTelecare

GoTelecare is a HIPAA-compliant video conferencing free telemedicine software. It offers video conferencing features for doctors and patients. The software comes with built-in EMR and mobile-health features with minimum or no cost. Moreover, it’s completely free for patients to avail of telemedicine services.

Key Features

• End-to-end telemedicine solution
• Free implementation
• Customizable to meet your medical needs
• Works with desktops, laptops, and mobile devices
• HIPAA-compliant video therapy
• PCI payment compliant
• Enable scheduling and medical billing

4. ChARMHealth

ChARM Health offers customized IT solutions for healthcare. It enables hospitals, clinics, and individual clinicians to connect with patients virtually and offer telemedicine services. The software comes with a highly interactive interface for patients and helps healthcare providers to increase their healthcare business.

Key Features

• Web-based appointments for medical facilities (hospitals, clinics, etc.)
• Streamline patients flow
• HIPAA compliant
• Compatible to integrate with other tools
• Manage health goals

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