The chiropractic industry is obligated to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) like all other healthcare organizations. An important aspect of this compliance standard is to keep and protect a patient’s private health information. The first step in this is to have patients fill out a chiropractic intake form.
What is a Chiropractic Intake Form?
Like many medical services, intake forms for chiropractic practices create a patient record, allowing the chiropractor to have a summary of their new patient’s basic information, relevant medical history, and insurance information.
These forms can be completed by new patients either at the office on a physical document or online and submitted as a digital record.
Why Are Chiropractic Intake Forms Helpful?
Chiropractic intake forms are essential for several reasons. They need to have accurate and comprehensive information about the patient so the chiropractor can understand their health needs and be able to provide the best treatment possible.
Secondly, intake forms need to require accurate insurance information. Chiropractic is considered complementary or alternative medicine to many insurance companies may treat coverage for treatment differently. Having comprehensive and accurate insurance information is essential for chiropractic practices to be properly reimbursed by insurance entities that may not provide full compensation if there is anything missing or inaccurate in the office’s claim.
Finally, intake forms are protected health information (PHI), which is essential for keeping compliant with HIPAA and must be secured and kept private.
How Does eFileCabinet Make Your Chiropractic Intake Form More Dynamic?
When patient satisfaction and retention is a priority, you want to make everything as simple and convenient for them as possible. That’s why creating chiropractic intake forms available for them to do online at their own convenience before they arrive for their first appointment is a great way to show that you care about their time. Rather than having to sit in the lobby filling out a form on a clipboard, they can just submit it to you the night before.
But like all PHI, it needs to be secured when transferring it online in the interest of cybersecurity and compliance with HIPAA. Rather than sending it and receiving it back as an email attachment, you need to use a platform that utilizes some form of encryption, so your patient’s private health data isn’t vulnerable.
eFileCabinet features a secure file-sharing feature that creates an encrypted connection so you and patients can share documents with each other, including chiropractic intake forms. You also have the capability of requesting certain documents such as insurance information or other relevant health information. You can automate the process of filing this information so it’s only stored in a section of your filing system where only authorized users in your office can access them.
If your intake forms require your patients’ signatures, eFileCabinet also gives you the capability to request valid and compliant eSignatures on your documents.
eFileCabinet is a more intuitive and lightweight solution than a traditional EHR. It allows you to efficiently share, collect, and archive PHI documents such as intake forms. Combined with document management organization tools, you can manage your chiropractic office’s paperwork effectively and quickly, so you can focus more of your time helping your patients with their pain. See eFileCabinet in action – click here to view a free, personalized demo.
