


For this reason, it’s imperative that doctors ensure all of their digital tools are HIPAA compliant, from patient intake forms to videoconferencing tools. Depending on the severity of a HIPAA violation, fines range from $100 to $50,000. In 2020, medical providers paid more than $13.5 million in HIPAA settlements and civil monetary penalties to the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights. While these real-time insights offer more precise monitoring of health conditions, better predictions about patient outcomes, and practice management insights (i.e., customer satisfaction levels, medical form completion rates, pending payments, etc.), digital tools are also susceptible to security breaches that can result in expensive fines for physicians. HIPAA-compliant mobile apps allow physicians to communicate with patients and staff, as well as collect and share sensitive health information from virtually anywhere in the world. Widely used wearables in combination with the vast number of data collection tools that are now available have given doctors greater access to patient analytics than ever before. Trending: How to become a superstar practice managerĪs the medical field continues to move toward an increasingly virtual environment, what implications does this hold for the patient-doctor relationship? Here are some of the ways that mobile apps are transforming the healthcare experience.
