If you’re thinking about using Google Workspace (formerly G suite) to provide your practice with HIPAA-compliant email and web forms, you might want to consider a few very important things that Google doesn’t provide that could make the difference between a stress-free email and web form experience and a frustrating one.
In today’s post, we’re addressing three things you won’t get with Google that go a long way toward making your practice management easier and more efficient.
Google Workspace provides you with a way to create forms using a form builder, but it doesn’t give you a way to get your informed consent forms signed. E-signatures are not available through Google Workspace. You can get an e-signature add-on through a third-party service, but that’s an extra cost and more hassle just to get your forms signed. If you use Google Workspace without an add-on, your clients will have to print out your forms to sign, which defeats the purpose of using web forms.
Hushmail for Healthcare offers plans that include e-signatures that are as legally binding as handwritten signatures and work seamlessly with our email and web forms – no add-ons or plugins required.
When it comes to secure email and web forms, HIPAA requires “safeguards” to ensure the security of protected health information (PHI). However, the HIPAA guidelines don’t state exactly what those safeguards should be.
Google Workspace protects data in transit when it’s moving from sender to receiver if both of them support TLS encryption. However, when communicating with a non-Google user, it doesn’t guarantee that a HIPAA-compliant level of encryption will be applied.
On the other hand, in addition to protecting data in transit, Hushmail also provides a private message center where clients can read and reply to encrypted email, which guarantees that HIPAA-compliant encryption will secure data in transit and at rest when it’s stored on a server, no matter who you communicate with.
Google is a huge company, and, as is often the case with larger companies, getting personalized assistance when issues arise often comes with a price. Google provides three tiers of support: standard support is free; enhanced support comes with a fee; and premium support comes with a fee. You can also sign up for “value added services” for additional fees. That’s a lot of fees.
Hushmail has one tier of support, and it’s free. We make it a priority to provide a personalized support experience every time. You talk to one person with a name who will stay with you until your issue is resolved. Our specialists are unscripted and encouraged to use their expertise to find creative solutions.
Hushmail provides e-signatures; encryption in transit and at rest, stored on a server; as well as a personalized customer support experience.
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Are you thinking about using Google Workspace to provide your practice with HIPAA-compliant email and web forms? Hushmail provides three things you won’t get with Google that go a long way toward making your practice management easier and more efficient: e-signatures; a private message center; and free, personalized customer support.
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