Year-End HIPAA Compliance Checklist: Securing Your Digital Intake Process 

Set a Secure Foundation for 2025 with HIPAA-Compliant Intake Forms

Key Takeaways 

• IntakeQ’s encrypted, HIPAA-compliant intake forms support a streamlined, secure intake process, minimizing common vulnerabilities.

• Limiting access to sensitive patient information can reduce security risks and ensure only essential team members view or edit data. 

• Encryption protects patient data from unauthorized access, making it a crucial safeguard for HIPAA compliance. 

• Updated consent forms and privacy notices inform patients clearly about data usage, supporting transparency and trust. 

• A well-prepared breach response plan helps practices respond quickly and effectively, minimizing damage and ensuring patient communication. 

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With cyber threats at an all-time high, HIPAA compliance matters more than ever for practices in 2025: 

• Over 386 healthcare cyber-attacks were reported in 2024, keeping pace with last year’s record-breaking breaches. 

• Ransomware attacks are now life-threatening, disrupting care and impacting entire communities. 

• The February 2024 ransomware attack on Change Healthcare compromised sensitive data for over 100 million individuals—nearly one-third of the U.S. population—marking it as the largest healthcare data breach in U.S. history. 

Since intake forms are among the first places sensitive patient information is collected, HIPAA-compliant intake forms are essential to protect your practice. Our 2025 checklist provides practical steps to strengthen your digital intake against rising threats—keeping patient data secure and your practice ready for what lies ahead. 

1. Control Access to Patient Information

First, it’s important to manage who can access patient information. HIPAA compliance starts with limiting access to only the team members who genuinely need it. By controlling access and regularly monitoring, you’ll add a critical layer of security to your intake process. 

• Limit access by assigning roles so only staff involved in patient care or essential tasks can view or edit intake data. Review these permissions periodically to keep access restricted to what’s necessary. 

• Set up routine reviews of access logs to track who’s accessed patient data. A simple, regular check can prevent unauthorized access and strengthen your practice’s data security. 

Reviewing and managing data access limits exposure, keeping sensitive patient information in the right hands. It’s a simple practice that strengthens security and helps prevent unauthorized access, giving you more control over patient data every step of the way. 

2. Encrypt and Secure Intake Data 

Encryption protects sensitive patient information by encoding it so that only authorized users can access it. For HIPAA compliance, intake data should be encrypted from the moment it’s collected to when it’s stored and backed up. 

To keep your data secure: 

• Use a HIPAA-compliant intake platform that provides built-in encryption for all patient data, so information is secure during storage and transfer. 

• Schedule regular, secure data backups with the same platform. Backing up encrypted data helps your practice recover quickly in case of technical issues or data loss. 

To fully protect patient privacy, make sure encryption and secure backups are integral to your intake process. They’re vital steps that can save your practice from data breaches, safeguard patient trust, and simplify recovery in case of technical issues. 

3. Regularly Update Patient Intake Forms for Compliance 

Staying HIPAA-compliant means keeping all aspects of your patient intake process up to date. Annual updates to your intake forms ensure your practice is current with evolving HIPAA standards, minimizes risks, and keeps patients informed of their data rights. 

Consent and Authorization Forms 

Patients must be clearly informed of how their data will be used, beginning with well-structured consent and authorization forms. Reviewing these forms annually ensures they align with the latest HIPAA guidelines. 

• Review each form to confirm clarity and transparency. Patients should easily understand what they’re agreeing to, especially with digital consent. 

• Choose a HIPAA-compliant intake platform that offers secure e-signature options, allowing you to capture each consent digitally in a trackable way that prevents compliance issues. 

Privacy Notices 

Transparency about how patient information is collected, used, and safeguarded remains essential to HIPAA compliance. Regularly updating privacy notices not only meets regulatory standards but also serves as a crucial touchpoint to build patient trust. 

• Verify that your privacy notice covers all aspects of data handling—collection, use, sharing, and protection—along with patients’ rights. 

• Integrate the updated privacy notice directly into your digital intake process, making it accessible and easy for patients to review. 

• If your intake platform supports it, automate the distribution of the privacy notice, ensuring every patient receives the latest version seamlessly. 

4. Build a Cyber-Smart, Compliance-Aware Team 

For 2025, staying HIPAA-compliant requires not just strong cybersecurity but also regular, focused compliance training. Equip your team with the knowledge and tools to handle patient data safely and prevent breaches. 

• Regularly train staff to spot phishing attempts and securely handle patient data. 

• Schedule routine HIPAA compliance refreshers covering data handling, privacy protocols, and security standards. 

• Maintain a log of all training sessions as proof of compliance efforts for internal reviews or audits. 

• Enable and train team members to use IntakeQ’s two-factor authentication (2FA) for an added security layer. 

With these steps, your practice can strengthen security from the inside out, ensuring a safer, HIPAA-compliant year ahead. 

5. Create an Incident Response and Recovery Plan 

Even with all the right protections, data breaches can still happen. That’s why it’s vital to have a step-by-step plan in place to manage them calmly and quickly: 

Know What to Do First 

If a breach is suspected, have a clear, immediate first step—like disconnecting affected devices from the internet to prevent further access. 

Assign Roles  

Decide in advance who does what in a breach. Who investigates? Who notifies patients? Identify team members for each role so there’s no confusion if an incident happens. 

Practice Makes Perfect 

Run quick “what-if” scenarios with your team. Walk through what you’d do in a breach situation so everyone is familiar with the process. 

Prepare Patient Notifications 

Have a basic message ready to inform patients about any potential risks. It saves time and reassures patients if you’re already prepared to explain the situation. 

Keep the Plan Updated  

Cyber threats evolve fast. Review your plan every year to ensure it’s still effective against the latest risks and compliant with any new regulations. 

With a straightforward, practiced plan in place, your team will feel more confident, and you’ll have a smoother path to protecting patient trust if a breach ever occurs. 

Simplify Compliance and Secure Data with IntakeQ 

IntakeQ simplifies HIPAA compliance with a fully secure, end-to-end intake solution that puts patient privacy first. With IntakeQ, you control patient data securely from the start, cutting out common vulnerabilities. Here’s how IntakeQ protects your practice: 

• Patients submit forms securely from home, eliminating the errors and risks of paper forms or unsecured email. 

• Built-in encrypted messaging allows you to share forms, treatment updates, and follow-ups directly with patients—no unsecured texts or emails. 

• HIPAA-compliant appointment reminders keep your practice on schedule without exposing patient details. 

With IntakeQ, you’re not only streamlining your intake process, but actively preventing security risks. IntakeQ’s comprehensive security features protect every step, giving you a compliant, worry-free platform that makes your job easier and your patients safer. 

Head into 2025 with a compliant intake process you can trust. Start your free 14-day trial with IntakeQ today. 

FAQs About HIPAA Compliance

What are the consequences of a HIPAA breach? 

HIPAA breaches can result in steep financial penalties, with fines ranging from around $137 for minor, unintentional breaches up to $68,928 for cases of willful neglect. In severe cases involving malicious intent, fines can reach as high as $250,000. 

How do we ensure our staff’s mobile devices are HIPAA-compliant if they’re used for patient communication? 

To keep mobile communication HIPAA-compliant, practices should require encryption on all devices, enforce strong passwords, and implement remote wiping capabilities in case a device is lost or stolen. Establishing policies around secure app usage and device handling can further protect patient data. 

Are there any HIPAA requirements for social media interactions with patients? 

HIPAA prohibits disclosing any protected health information (PHI) on social media, so patient interactions must be handled carefully. Practices should avoid sharing any patient-specific details online and train staff to direct patient inquiries to secure channels instead of responding on public platforms. 

What should a HIPAA-compliant telehealth setup include? 

A compliant telehealth setup should include end-to-end encryption for video sessions, secure logins, and data storage that meets HIPAA standards. Using platforms specifically designed for healthcare and ensuring both providers and patients follow secure connection protocols are key to protecting PHI during telehealth visits. 

How can practices maintain HIPAA compliance when sharing records with third-party vendors or consultants? 

When sharing PHI with third parties, practices should ensure they only work with HIPAA-compliant vendors and have signed business associate agreements (BAAs) with each one. Limiting access to only necessary information and using secure data transfer methods also reduces the risk of unauthorized disclosure. 

References 

Alder, S. (2024a, February 9). HIPAA Compliance Checklist. HIPAA Journal. https://www.hipaajournal.com/hipaa-compliance-checklist/ 

Alder, S. (2024b, October 24). Change Healthcare Cyberattack Affected 100 Million Individuals. HIPAA Journal. https://www.hipaajournal.com/change-healthcare-responding-to-cyberattack/ 

Cassio. (2018, February 5). 3 Privacy Concerns for Electronic Forms and Records. IntakeQ. https://blog.intakeq.com/3-privacy-concerns-for-electronic-forms-and-records/ 

Google Cloud. (2022). What is encryption? Google Cloud. https://cloud.google.com/learn/what-is-encryption 

IntakeQ. (2021, October 20). Standard Consent Form. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WihFV_j-584 

Riggi, J. (2024, October 7). A Look at 2024’s Health Care Cybersecurity Challenges. American Hospital Association | AHA News. https://www.aha.org/news/aha-cyber-intel/2024-10-07-look-2024s-health-care-cybersecurity-challenges 

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2024, September 27). The HIPAA Privacy Rule. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/index.html