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HIPAA and an AI on the phone: what a clinic needs to know

An AI receptionist can be used in a covered practice. The vendors, the agreements and the flow have to be right. Here is the checklist we use.

Business Associate Agreements

Every vendor that touches patient information signs a BAA: the phone provider, the transcription and model providers, the storage. We use only vendors who sign, and the agreements are in place before the first call.

Minimum necessary

The AI reads the fields it needs for the task, not the whole chart. Scheduling needs a name, a phone and a visit type. It does not need the diagnosis.

Recordings and transcripts

Stored encrypted, retained for the period you set, deleted after. Access is logged. Callers are told about recording where required.

Emergencies

Emergency words trigger an immediate transfer to your nurse line, before any other handling. The list of words is yours and it is tested.

What the AI will not do

Give clinical advice, discuss results, or confirm that a person is a patient to a third party. Those go to staff, with the question written up.

Your part

A risk assessment entry for the new system, staff training on the hand-off flow, and a named person who reviews flagged calls weekly. We provide the templates.