Paubox blog: HIPAA compliant email made easy

What are Paubox Forms? How can they help my business?

Written by Aja Anderson | August 08, 2022

Updated February 2024

Paubox Forms is designed to securely collect patient data in compliance with HIPAA regulations. It's included with the Paubox Email Suite service and features a user-friendly drag-and-drop form builder. 

The forms can be customized with various question options like text fields, dropdowns, multiple choice, file uploads, and even signatures. 

You can adjust question settings, design elements, and manage form settings. Once a form is built, it can be published and linked to websites or emails. Form submissions are viewable in the Paubox Admin Panel, and users can customize submission messages and manage form recipients.  

We've put together a detailed walkthrough of forms with a step-by-step video guide. Learn how to build and publish a HIPAA compliant form.

Here are the basics of building a form with Paubox Forms:

  1. In the Paubox Admin Panel, navigate to Forms under the Paubox Forms section on the left-hand navigation.
  2. Click on the Create Form button.
  3. Enter a Form Name at the top of the page.
  4. On the left side of the form builder, you will see different question options. To add a question to your form, drag and drop the option from the form builder onto your form.
  5. After building your form, click the Publish button on the top right of the form builder. 

 

Paubox Forms features:

  • Multiple question options: Add input fields, drop downs, multiple choice, and text areas.
  • Signature collection: Require form fillers to provide a signature. Choose between the option to request a signature drawing or a typed signature.
  • File upload: Allow form fillers to upload a file. Choose which file types to accept (PDFs, images, videos, spreadsheets, documents, etc.).
  • Required fields: Toggle on this field to require an answer to this form question.
  • Design elements: You can manage the look and feel of your form.
  • Choose form submission recipients: Select who should receive a copy of submissions as they are submitted.
  • Create a submission message: You can customize the thank you message after a form filler submits a form. 

 

Simplify administrative tasks with Paubox Forms

Have you noticed a new section in your Paubox dashboard? We’ve added a nesting menu called “Workflow Automation.” If you expand that option, you’ll see “Paubox Forms.” This offering replaces our legacy product, Encrypted Forms. Customers already have access to a free one: the secure contact form. Paubox has developed automated workflow solutions for healthcare leveraging our forms. Paubox forms can simplify management of your practice, from reducing physical paperwork to streamlining electronic file management.

 

Transmit encrypted documents with secure contact forms

A secret bonus for Paubox customers is a free secure contact form for each domain you connect to your dashboard. Since the form is hosted on our secure servers, there is no need for your website to be HIPAA compliant. If you need more than one form, you can set up another domain in your dashboard. The link above provides detailed instructions.

Customers use these forms in a variety of ways. One of the most popular is for patients to submit intake and other health documents electronically. This circumvents the fax machine, eliminates paper waste, and removes the need to decipher handwriting.

A great way to share the link is by including it in your email signature. You can set your logo for the form, to ensure patients recognize your brand. You could also put it on your website, or include it in a patient newsletter. If you use automated appointment reminders, the form could be included in the body of the calendar event.

 

Collecting signatures with Paubox Forms

Customer feedback determines everything we build. We begin with a discovery call to understand which repetitive administrative work could be simplified by a workflow. A common example for behavioral health allows practitioners to collect signatures on a Telehealth agreement. From doctor to patient to guardian, this form can be configured to record multiple signatures. It also includes a required checkbox for a patient (or guardian) to acknowledge and accept treatment via Telehealth for compliance purposes.

The advent of COVID-19 led doctors to scramble for HIPAA compliant processes to meet with patients remotely and gather necessary paperwork electronically. At Henderson Behavioral Health, doctors needed to capture patient consent on treatment plans. In a remote session, doctor and patient agree on a goal for the patient’s health. The doctor transcribes the patient’s words into a Paubox form, e-signs it, and sends the form via encrypted email to the patient. The patient e-signs during the session itself, and the doctor receives a pdf copy of the paperwork.

 

Use Paubox Forms to process patient referrals

Patients are often referred to doctors via fax or handwritten form. Both of these methods can lead to an administrator squinting at scrawled script and transcribing inaccurate details. Essential information might be missing on referrals because it is nearly impossible to enforce required fields in faxed communication. In addition, every organization has a different format for submitting referrals. A customer in Florida requested a referral form to solve this problem.

Now, when a referring agency or individual recommends a patient for treatment, they fill out the Paubox form provided by our customer. The form requires specific fields that include information practitioners need to create the file for the new patient. It includes options for both adults and children, so only one form is necessary to capture any type of patient referral.

 

Paubox Forms and Workflow Automation

Paubox is able to send the information from the custom forms into our customers’ EHR, NetSmart myAvatar. A copy of the signed PDF is automatically uploaded to their file when patients countersign their treatment plans. A new patient record is created when a referral form is completed. This saves hours of administrative time, and frees up the team to handle higher level work. Best of all, we’re able to innovate quickly when customer needs shift.

Start saving your practice time by using the free secure contact form. Reduce the amount of paper your team has to transcribe and file with our automated solutions. What other work can we streamline for your business? Reach out to us today to learn more about Paubox Forms and Workflow Automation.