09/05/2025
🚨 Important Patient Privacy Reminder 🚨
Your privacy is our top priority. If you are ever asked by a medical professional (Doctor, Nurse Practitioner, Nurse, Receptionist, anyone) to text personal health information (PHI) to their personal cell phone, please know that this is a violation of HIPAA regulations.
📱❌ Personal cell phones are not secure for transmitting sensitive medical information.
Protected Health Information (PHI) refers to any information in a medical context that can be used to identify an individual and relates to their health status, healthcare, or payment for healthcare.
Here are common examples of PHI:
🏥 Health-related information:
• Medical diagnoses
• Treatment or care plans
• Lab results (e.g., blood test results)
• Prescription details
• X-rays or other medical images
• Doctor’s notes or clinical summaries
• Appointment dates or times
• Billing and insurance information
🧾 Identifiers (when tied to health information):
• Full name
• Address (street, city, ZIP code)
• Email address
• Phone number
• Date of birth
• Social Security Number
• Medical record numbers
• Health insurance information
• Full-face photos or other identifiable images
Even something as simple as a text saying “Here’s a picture of my rash” with a name or phone number can qualify as PHI if it’s sent in a medical context.
If you are asked to do this, we encourage you to report the incident at this web address: https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/cp/wizard_cp.jsf
Protecting your health information is not just important — it’s the law.
Have questions about how your information should be handled? Feel free to contact us.
Stay safe and informed!
Every complaint that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) receives is important. However, not every complaint results in an investigation, and it is not possible to contact every complainant.
