Using HIPAA compliant emails for empowerment-based interventions

In the National Library of Medicine’s chapter on Empowerment and Health Promotion in Hospitals, empowerment is linked to “individuals and groups who are/have been in a situation of powerlessness and how they can emerge from that powerlessness. Illness and symptoms such as severe pain, nausea and discomfort, or fear and exhaustion can easily contribute to feelings of powerlessness.”

HIPAA compliant email solutions, like Paubox, can help reduce this powerlessness as they improve access to health information and encourage patient participation.

What are empowerment-based interventions?

The chapter describes patient empowerment “as a social and a helping process, as well as a dynamic and interactive process.”

More specifically, “Empowerment-based interventions include both a process and an outcome component. The process component occurs when the true purpose of the intervention is to increase the patient’s capacity to think critically and make autonomous, informed decisions. The outcome component occurs when there is a measurable increase in the patient’s ability to make autonomous, informed decisions.”

Therefore, empowerment-based interventions are healthcare strategies that strengthen a patient’s confidence, knowledge, coping abilities, and participation in decision-making. These interventions help patients gain greater control over their health and encourage collaboration between patients and healthcare professionals.

According to the chapter, empowerment is characterized by:

1. “Active participation
2. Informed change
3. Knowledge to problem solve
4. Self-care responsibility
5. Sense of control
6. Awareness
7. Development of personal abilities
8. Autonomy and coping.”

How HIPAA compliance can help

Participation

Healthcare providers must help patients’ “capacities to gain more control over issues they themselves define as important.” Providers can use HIPAA compliant emails to help patients become active participants in their care outside of clinical appointments. Many patients feel overwhelmed during medical visits and may forget important details or hesitate to ask questions. Secure follow-up emails allow providers to continue the conversation after the appointment ends.

For example, if a patient is diagnosed with hypertension, they can leave a clinic visit with instructions regarding medication, exercise, sodium intake, and blood pressure monitoring. The provider can send a secure email summarizing the care plan and encourage the patient to ask questions, so they can participate more confidently in treatment decisions.

Additionally, a patient with diabetes can receive regular secure emails discussing blood sugar trends or medication adjustments. The patient becomes actively involved in tracking symptoms and helping shape the care plan.

Dialogue

The authors explain that “Dialogue as a method of health promotion.” It helps individuals develop awareness and greater control over their health decisions.

HIPAA compliant emails support dialogue as they allow ongoing communication between patients and providers. Secure email communication allows patients to reflect on information after the visit and continue discussions later.

For example, a patient beginning chemotherapy treatment may initially feel too overwhelmed to ask detailed questions during an oncology consultation. Later, after reviewing treatment materials at home, the patient may use secure email to ask about side effects or symptom management.

Empowerment and Health Promotion in Hospitals explains the emotional dimension of empowerment. According to the chapter, healthcare professionals may communicate “respect, empathy, or understanding” through their interactions. Providers can personalize their HIPAA compliant emails to be more supportive and reinforce these qualities.

For example, a nurse following up with a patient recovering from surgery could send a secure message asking about pain levels and mobility.

Dialogue also encourages reflection and mutual understanding. HIPAA compliant emails facilitate this “exchange and reflection” as they give patients time to consider questions and respond on their own time.

Knowledge-sharing

Empowerment includes “knowledge to problem solve” and “informed change.” Healthcare providers can use HIPAA compliant emails to share tailored educational materials, giving patients information about diagnoses, medications, lifestyle modifications, treatment plans, and preventive care.

These emails can also help improve health literacy, defined as “people’s knowledge, motivation and competence to access, understand, appraise, and apply health information in order to make judgements and take decisions in everyday life concerning health care, disease prevention and health promotion.”

For example, a cardiology clinic can use Paubox to send patients educational resources explaining heart failure symptoms and medication adherence, so they may better understand how to manage their condition.

Knowledge-sharing can only be effective when communication uses accessible language. The chapter notes that medical terminology may prevent patients from understanding health information. As such, HIPAA compliant emails must clarify medical jargon and provide educational resources suited to the patient’s literacy level.

Knowledge-sharing also helps prevent misunderstandings that can negatively affect patient outcomes. The author shares the example of an elderly hospitalized patient who remained in bed for two days because he believed he was not allowed to move. The patient later explained that “no one had informed him that he was free to move around, and he had not asked any questions.”

In this case, HIPAA compliant emails could have helped reinforce discharge instructions and clarify recovery expectations if they were uncertain about any aspect of their care.

Self-management

Patients must “solve their own problems and mobilise the necessary resources in order to feel in control of their own lives or the factors which affect their health.” HIPAA compliant emails can support self-management if providers send information on healthy behaviors and independent decision-making.

For example, a weight loss clinic can send its patients encouraging emails on self-monitoring and goal-setting, promoting personal accountability.

Similarly, patients managing asthma may receive secure reminders about inhaler use during allergy season, while also being encouraged to monitor symptoms and communicate concerns early.

The abovementioned chapter also discusses the concept of coping and defines it as “the perception of having the resources to face challenges and a sense of having control over one’s own life.” HIPAA compliant emails support coping as they can help patients be prepared and connected to their healthcare team.

Overall, empowerment-based HIPAA compliant communication can encourage patients to become active partners in managing their health.

Respect

The chapter explains that empowerment is “seeing people as actors in their own lives who ‘know best where the shoe pinches.’” This perspective recognizes patients’ personal knowledge about their experiences and priorities.

HIPAA compliant emails can help strengthen respectful communication if patients are uncomfortable discussing sensitive issues during in-person appointments. For example, a patient managing depression may feel more comfortable discussing emotional struggles through secure email communication than during a brief office visit.

Respectful communication also involves acknowledging individual circumstances. As such, providers can also use secure emails to ask how symptoms are affecting work or mental well-being.

HIPAA compliant communication also respects patient privacy. Patients are more likely to communicate openly when they trust that their personal health information is protected. Platforms like Paubox use advanced encryption, two-factor authentication, audit trails, and access controls to secure patients’ protected health information (PHI) during transmission and at rest, promoting patient-provider trust.

Read also: How HIPAA compliance improves patient trust

Collaboration

Collaboration connects all the principles of empowerment-based care. HIPAA compliant emails are proven to support collaboration. Providers can speak to patients directly, involving them in treatment planning and problem-solving.

For instance, a physical therapist working with a patient recovering from injury can use secure emails to discuss which exercises are manageable at home and which barriers are interfering with progress. Together, the provider and patient can adjust rehabilitation plans based on patient feedback.

Collaboration is also needed in behavioral health settings. Like, when a therapist uses secure emails to encourage patients to reflect on coping strategies and discuss treatment goals between sessions.

The chapter also references research showing that “patients value communication when they themselves are active.” Patients who feel heard and involved are often more engaged in treatment and more motivated to participate in long-term health management.

As such, HIPAA compliant emails that incorporate empowerment-based interventions must recognize that illness affects emotional and social well-being in addition to physical health.

Related: How HIPAA compliant emails can increase health literacy

FAQs

What is HIPAA compliance?

HIPAA compliance refers to adhering to regulations outlined in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act to safeguard patients’ protected health information (PHI).

What types of information can HIPAA compliant emails include?

Providers can use HIPAA compliant emails to send sensitive health information, like patient education materials, appointment reminders, treatment plans, and other medical communications.

Can healthcare organizations customize emails for specific language needs?

Yes, healthcare organizations can customize HIPAA compliant emails to support specific language needs by sending educational materials in multiple languages to cater to diverse patient populations.

Read more: Using HIPAA compliant emails for multi-language patient education