Are Google Forms HIPAA Compliant?
Keeping patient information secure and private can be difficult, especially with so many tools out there that can make things easier for you. It can be equally difficult to determine which of these tools are the best fit for you.
Google is an internet giant, with over 63,000 searches per second. Since starting off as a search engine, Google has grown to include Maps, Google My Business, and more. Google Forms is another highly successful tool by Google, and many practice managers are wondering if Google Forms is a HIPAA compliant tool.
Short answer: yes, Google Forms are HIPAA compliant.
If you want to go in-depth into HIPAA compliant web forms and Google’s HIPAA compliance, keep reading.
What Does HIPAA Compliance Really Mean
Being HIPAA compliant means that you are set to adhere to a specific set of standards that protect patient health information. The data on your website and anything related to patient information should be encrypted and secure.
The expectation should be set that you will do everything possible to prevent a data breach from happening. That means working with tools that guarantee military-grade encryption and are HIPAA compliant. Outside organizations that you work with should also sign a business associate agreement (BAA) that they take responsibility to protect PHI that they come into contact with.
Google Forms and HIPAA Compliance
Google is not a completely HIPAA compliant organization, but Google Drives and Google Forms are HIPAA compliant. This means that it is a safe option for you to work with if you want to allow patients to submit data through these forms.
Google offers a business associate agreement (BAA) with organizations that need to abide by HIPAA. As such, Google upholds the privacy, security, and breach notification rules as outlined by HIPAA. As you are setting up Google Forms, it is important to take extra care that only approved individuals have full access to the information. If these steps get overlooked, you may be leaving PHI out in the open.
How Are Forms HIPAA Compliant?
To better understand the context of why online forms need to be HIPAA compliant, let’s talk about what it takes to be compliant and how that benefits you.
Using a tool to generate HIPAA compliant forms is one way of securing patient health information without needing to hire an in-house IT team. Often, these tools are easy to use and set up – even for individuals with minimal experience.
The goal of HIPAA compliant web forms is to give medical organizations the ability to communicate with patients and receive documentation from them through the web. Not only should a medical organization’s website be HIPAA compliant, but forms that allow patients to submit their information also need to be secure.
These tools often use a different platform to contain private patient data. Any notifications sent out about a new submission will not contain any identifying information. To view a form submission, you would have to log in with a unique log-in/password. All of this data is encrypted and gets permanently deleted on a schedule.
Adding HIPAA compliant web forms to your website adds another layer of security as well. That way, if your website gets breached, patient information from the forms will stay private since they aren’t hosted on your site.
How Do I Keep PHI Safe?
The best way to keep patient health information safe is to do your research and select tools that can help you adhere to HIPAA requirements. The more security measures in place, the better. You can also read about the 12 steps to HIPAA compliance in this blog.
Make sure that access to information gets restricted to the people who need access to it. They should each have a unique log-in and change their password every few days.
If you have any questions, or if you’d like to learn more about HIPAA compliant web forms, contact us.