Maintaining telehealth privacy and security
When meeting with a provider in person, it’s easy to see how they protect your health information such as logging out of your medical record after making updates. Providers also protect your privacy during a telehealth visit.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, also known as HIPAA, was designed to protect your personal information. These rules apply to your medical history and what’s discussed during both in-person and telehealth visits.
Telehealth privacy during your video visit
Telehealth video visits are best when they're done in private and confidentially. While you can do a virtual visit from anywhere, you want to make sure it’s somewhere quiet and free from distractions or background noise so you can openly discuss your health concerns. This could include:
- A room in your home, ideally with a door you can close
- Your parked car in a parking lot
- An office or conference room at work
- Outside, away from other people
Note it’s not safe to drive during a video visit. If you do visits from your car, be sure it’s parked during your visit.
While coffee shops or libraries can be fun places to work remotely, they’re not ideal settings to keep your personal information private. If you need to do your virtual visit in a public setting, consider doing an e-visit instead.
If you must do your video visit around others, using headphones can help block out background noise. Keep in mind while others won’t be able to hear what the virtual care provider is saying, people will still hear your side of the conversation.
Things to know about telehealth privacy and security
If you typically have a family member, friend or other caregiver accompany you to in-person medical appointments, it should be fine for them to sit in on your video visit. Otherwise, to maintain telehealth confidentially, you’ll want to be in a room by yourself, just like you would for in-person care at a clinic or your provider’s office.
You can request a Quick Care Video Visit on behalf of minors ages 2 up to 18 if you're their legally authorized representative.
For a video visit, the child must be present and visible with you for the duration of the appointment. This way the provider can ask the child questions. Also depending on the reason for the visit, the provider might need to see the child for an exam, such as if they have a rash.
View our privacy policy to learn how Advocate Health Care uses and protects your personal information collected online.
Telehealth security
When you do a video visit from your LiveWell account, you can rest assured telehealth security is top of mind to keep your personal information safe, secure and private.
Both Quick Care Video Visits and video visits with your provider are powered by Zoom, a dedicated portal for video visits from your computer or mobile device. These visits feature enhanced telehealth security measures to help ensure only you and the provider have access to your video visit. These measures can include:
- Meeting IDs
- Visit verifications
- Unique passwords
What are some other ways to protect my telehealth security?
Before beginning a video visit or e-visit, here are some steps you can take to protect your personal information:
- Make sure you have a strong internet connection before beginning your video visit to help minimize poor video or audio quality.
- Before entering your personal information, be sure there’s a lock icon in the website address bar.
- Protect your devices with antivirus software.
- Do video visits and e-visit on your devices, not those shared with people outside of your family or your work computer.
Start your telehealth visit
Ready to get virtual care? Pick the option that’s most convenient for you so we can help you feel better.
Quick Care Video Visits
- For kids 2+ and adults
- Available 24/7 – meet with the next available provider
- We'll bill your insurance
Start a Quick Care Video Visit
Video visits with your provider
- For kids and adults
- Often available by appointment with members of your care team
- We'll bill your insurance
Start a scheduled visit
E-visits
- For kids 2-11 and adults
- Available 24/7 – send a message and get a response within one hour
- We'll bill your insurance
Start an e-visit
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