Do you need a HIPAA-compliant ticketing system? Not all ticketing systems can enable you to comply with the strict rules of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Choose one of the top ticketing systems on this list to help you adhere to HIPAA regulations and ensure the privacy of protected health information.
5 Top-Rated HIPAA Compliant Ticketing Systems:
The Role of Ticketing Systems in Healthcare
A ticketing system is software to help you manage and track customer requests and problems. It lets clients submit inquiries in “ticket” form in customer support and service-oriented industries. Each ticket is then prioritized and assigned to a customer support staff. By adding HIPAA compliance to ticketing systems, you can use them in healthcare helpdesk settings to ensure the protection and privacy of sensitive patient data.
This list features the best ticketing systems that are HIPAA compliant.
1. Freshdesk
Freshdesk, a customer service management software by Freshworks, includes a HIPAA-compliant ticketing system tool in its list of features. The platform offers a business associate agreement (BAA) for healthcare users. However, the BAA applies to only a few products offered by the Freshworks Freshdesk suite: Freshdesk, Freshchat Freshcaller, and Freshdesk.
Once you have a BAA, configure Freshdesk to enable HIPAA compliance. You must whitelist specific IP addresses, enable SAML SSO for users, configure a custom mail server, enable SSL, and disable the Freshconnect feature. You can view the complete instructions on the Freshdesk HIPAA Configuration Guide.
Freshdesk includes these features:
- Team inbox for agents to manage all support tickets from multiple channels
- Agent collision detection so agents can avoid working on the same support ticket
- SLA management to set deadlines for resolving tickets
- Automatic ticket field categories
- Custom ticket statuses
- Canned responses to common questions
2. Help Scout
Another ticketing system that successfully made its way to this list is Help Scout. Subscribing to its Pro plan lets you enable HIPAA compliance. The Help Scout and HIPAA page gives you access to the BAA for subcontractors and covered entities.
Help Scout takes several steps to protect data privacy. The platform undergoes annual risk assessment and HIPAA training for staff. It also encrypts data and hosts them on Amazon Web Services, which is HIPAA-compliant.
Help Scout features include:
- Shared inbox for multiple messaging channels
- Emails are automatically labeled and assigned
- Quick access to customer profiles
- Saved replies to common queries
- Reporting and analytics
- Live chat with agents
- 50+ integrations and an API
3. Jitbit
Do you need a HIPAA-compliant ticketing system that fully integrates with your mailbox? Try Jitbit. It can work “on-premise” with your current mailbox or as SaaS, which is fully hosted in the cloud.
Jitbit HIPAA Compliant helpdesk software undergoes yearly employee training and security risk assessments. The company also encrypts data in transit and data backups. Its servers are hosted on Amazon AWS, with which it has a BAA. To ensure HIPAA compliance on your end, remove sensitive ticket information from email templates and disable file attachments or email notifications.
Jitbit offers these features:
- Automatically turns emails into tickets, sending notifications to users and agents
- Attach documents, screenshots, PDFs, and short videos from your browser
- Integration with MS Exchange, JIRA issue tracker, Github, and other apps
- SSO with SSL protection
- Free iOS and Android mobile apps
4. Zendesk
Zendesk is a popular HIPAA-compliant ticketing service. To enable HIPAA compliance, you must have an active Zendesk Suite Professional or Enterprise, Zendesk Enterprise Support, Zendesk Talk Enterprise, Professional or Advanced subscription.
Also, you will need to configure its Advanced Compliance feature to ensure the safety of patient health data. Advanced Compliance lets you enter into a BAA with Zendesk. It also gives you access to security configuration options that will help you safeguard protected health information (PHI).
Zendesk includes these features:
- Agent Workspace, a unified channel where agents can access tools and data to track individual conversations
- Integration with more than 1,000 apps
- Ticket collaboration, making it easy for agents to collaborate publicly or privately on individual tickets
- Customer satisfaction prediction score
- Live chat on various messaging channels such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger, and email
- AI-powered chatbot
5. Zoho Desk
Another well-known HIPAA-compliant ticketing solution, Zoho Desk, can also enter into a BAA with covered entities and business associates. To request the BAA, you need to send an email to legal@zohocorp.com. The Zoho Desk HIPAA Compliance Guide outlines several features that help you comply with HIPAA laws. Users that require HIPAA compliance can:
- Mark electronic PHI (ePHI) fields to differentiate them from other data
- Encrypt marked ePHI fields
- Manage user roles and permissions
- View and export audit trails and logs to monitor usage trends
Aside from these HIPAA features, Zoho Desk also offers:
- One interface to manage all customer support emails
- One tab for social media messages
- Live chat with embeddable chat widgets for your website
- Call recording and logging of phone calls on the cloud
- Customizable web forms that customers can fill out to submit their tickets
Ensuring HIPAA Compliance With Healthcare Help Desk Ticketing Systems
Ticketing systems often include reporting and analytics tools to help you track data on response and resolution times. They help agents collaborate more efficiently and automate repetitive tasks. They also integrate with a knowledge base, giving agents quick access to solutions to common problems.
By choosing a ticketing system that’s HIPAA compliant, your agents enjoy all these convenient features and protect data privacy at the same time.
