The Short Answer: Yes. As of May 25, 2020, AWeber is HIPAA compliant. For More Information: Read On.
HIPAA
HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is a U.S. law that aims to protect patient privacy and security of sensitive healthcare data. Launched in 2003, HIPAA compliance helps ensure that healthcare providers adhere to the necessary rules and regulations regarding storing and sharing patient data. These rules apply to both physical and electronic healthcare files and forms — known as electronic health record (EHR) and electronic medical record/patient portal (EMR/P) data respectively.
The main goal of HIPAA is to give patients the highest level of confidence that their medical data will be protected and shared only as per their consent, and that they will not be subjected to any form of unnecessary data breaches.
HIPAA is implemented by different agencies, regulatory bodies, and healthcare organizations to ensure adherence to its rules and regulations. Unfortunately, not all healthcare providers are made equal when it comes to HIPAA compliance. Some have fallen short in their efforts, leading to significant penalties and damages. In a recent case, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services brought a lawsuit against a healthcare provider for significant HIPAA violations. In the suit, the OIG alleged that the healthcare provider had failed to maintain an adequately protected EMR and had failed to conduct adequate tests and research to prevent such breaches from occurring. As a result, the OIG was able to recover over $17 million in civil penalties and over $29 million in healthcare damages.
Why AWeber?
AWeber is one of the few email marketing platforms that is 100% HIPAA compliant. This means that AWeber has taken the necessary steps to ensure that they have implemented all of the necessary security measures and have trained their employees to adhere to those measures. As a result, they can offer customers the assurance that their personal data will be handled securely and according to the law. In light of the fact that HIPAA imposes significant financial and legal obligations on healthcare providers, it is highly beneficial for a company to have a robust platform that is already prepared to go into compliance with HIPAA.
AWeber is also a pioneer when it comes to the “privacy by design” movement. Due to their innovative approach to implementing privacy features, the majority of their users’ personal data is protected. To learn more, you can read our in-depth review of the platform.
What Does This Mean For My Business?
If you’re currently using AWeber to conduct email marketing, you can rest assured that your privacy is secure, as per HIPAA. This means you don’t need to worry about giving out your personal data to third parties, and your customers can trust you.
Additionally, AWeber is one of the few email marketing platforms that offer customers the ability to revoke their consent at any time. This means that even if they do get hacked or have a data breach, they can remove their consent and have all of their personal data erased. For more on this, you can read our in-depth review of the platform.
What About The Other Free Email Marketers?
Like most things in life, there is more than one way to skin a cat. While we’re happy that AWeber is taking the necessary steps to become HIPAA compliant, it’s important to keep in mind that not all free email marketers are created equal when it comes to securing your personal data. There are a few other free email marketing platforms out there that are also compliant with HIPAA, but just to be on the safe side, you might want to consider moving to a premium service.
For example, Constant Contact is another popular email marketing platform used by over two million businesses worldwide. Like AWeber, Constant Contact is also a pioneer in the “privacy by design” movement and offers customers the ability to delete their emails from their end.
Conclusion
AWeber’s willingness to go the extra mile and become HIPAA compliant is both admirable and beneficial to customers who use their services. While some may argue that it’s not worth paying for a quality service, it’s important to keep in mind that premium services have many advantages that a business can’t get for free. Some of these advantages include:
- Unlimited contacts
- Advanced features
- Spam filters
- Robust reporting
- Wide geographic coverage
- Business insights
- And more!
As you can see, even small business owners should consider paying for a premium service, as it could help save you both time and money in the long run.