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Can I use Mad Mimi and be HIPAA compliant?

Can I use Mad Mimi and be HIPAA compliant?

We've been seeing more vendors, customers, and prospects asking about HIPAA compliant email marketing services. Since Paubox is a business associate to thousands of customers, we’ve been wondering if they are able to use Mad Mimi in a HIPAA compliant manner.

We know the HIPAA industry is vast, so we can empathize with just how many people need to use cloud services in this sector. Today we will determine if Mad Mimi offers HIPAA compliant email for marketing or not.

 

Mad Mimi

 

Mad Mimi is an email marketing service enabling users to create, send, and track email campaigns without using templates. It was founded by brothers Gary and Dean Levitt in 2007 and was acquired by GoDaddy in 2014.

In addition, Dean Levitt is an advisor and investor in Paubox. He is also a good friend of mine!

 

What is a business associate?

 

A business associate is a person or company that performs certain functions or activities that involve the use or disclosure of protected health information (PHI) for a covered entity.

In a nutshell, the role of a business associate is to help covered entities comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Since Mad Mimi is a cloud-based service, if it stores PHI on behalf of a covered entity, it is certainly considered a business associate.

 

Business associate agreement provisions

 

If a business associate provides services to a covered entity, then a business associate agreement (BAA) must be in place. A BAA is a written contract between a Covered Entity and a Business Associate and is required by law for HIPAA compliance.

 

Mad Mimi and the business associate agreement

 

We checked Mad Mimi's site for mention of its ability to sign a BAA. We weren't able to find any mention of HIPAA, BAA, or PHI on their site. We then checked GoDaddy's site for the same information. We found several resources here for GoDaddy's HIPAA compliant email service. We also found their business associate agreement.

It should be noted however, the GoDaddy HIPAA compliant email service and the accompanying BAA does not include Mad Mimi in its scope. GoDaddy cannot be used to send marketing emails to an email subscription list.

 

Does Mad Mimi offer HIPAA compliant service?

 

The BAA is a key component to HIPAA compliance between a covered entity and a business associate. We were able to learn the following about Mad Mimi and its stance on HIPAA compliance:

 

  • Mad Mimi does not mention anything about HIPAA, PHI, or a BAA on its site.
  • We therefore conclude Mad Mimi is not able to sign a BAA.
  • Mad Mimi's parent company GoDaddy does have a HIPAA compliant email solution, but it cannot be used for marketing emails.

 

Conclusion: Mad Mimi is not HIPAA compliant.

 

HIPAA email marketing tools comparison

 

To meet the unmet need for HIPAA compliant email marketing, we created Paubox Marketing. It is the only solution that will:

 

  • Sign a BAA
  • Provide military-grade encryption
  • Allow you to include PHI in your marketing emails
  • Allow patients to read your emails directly from their inbox with no extra steps

 

In addition, Paubox Marketing is HITRUST CSF certified. Compared to the standard marketing tools, Paubox Marketing is the best option for maintaining HIPAA compliance while harnessing the power of personalized email marketing.

SEE ALSO: Why Paubox Marketing is the Best HIPAA Email Marketing Solution Available

 

Company Will they sign a BAA? Can you send PHI?
Adobe Campaign NO NO
Blue Orchid Marketing NO NO
Campaign Monitor NO NO
Campaigner NO NO
Drip NO NO
Emma NO NO
GetResponse NO NO
Hubspot NO NO
L-Soft NO NO
Mad Mimi (GoDaddy) NO NO
Mailchimp NO NO
MailerLite NO NO
Marketo (Adobe) NO NO
Salesforce Pardot NO NO
SendGrid (Twilio) NO NO
Yesware NO NO
ActiveCampaign YES NO
Constant Contact YES NO
Infusionsoft by Keap YES NO
Salesforce Marketing Cloud YES NO
Eloqua (Oracle) YES YES **
Paubox Marketing YES YES

(** To use Oracle Eloqua in a HIPAA compliant manner, recipients receive two emails for every message you send. Patients must also log into a secure message center to view your message— it does not appear in their inboxes. This creates friction and makes it less likely that your patients will read your marketing email.)

 

Try Paubox Marketing for free and make your email marketing HIPAA compliant today.

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