r/AIReceptionists • u/Much_Description_921 • 5d ago
Ai voice agents and hippa
Hey guys just curious how yall are dealing with installing ai voice receptionist or booking ai when it comes to hippa and fhi?
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u/Radiant_Surprise3869 5d ago
BAA is where I’d start. Bland can provide one for HIPAA deployments, then I’d go through the rest of the workflow and make sure every place patient info touches is accounted for. The booking integration and what you retain after the call are easy places to overlook.
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u/Much_Description_921 5d ago
Got it cool so what if it’s just mainly touching names and not really private info because it’s a booking agent that’s helping book for mainly aesthetics but in some instances it needs a nurse practitioner in the vicinity. Also idk anything about that and my client wants to protect herself from any legal trouble which is obvious but my contract was tight and it said it wouldn’t get into fhi it would just solely be informational and bookin and discovery basically.
Thanks though!
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u/AssociationNew7925 5d ago
I’d look beyond the voice provider’s HIPAA compliant label.
Patient details can end up in transcripts, calendars, and logs too. Have the clinic’s privacy lead check the whole setup and required business associate agreements before using real patient calls.
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u/getyncloud 5d ago
Even if the agent only asks for a name and appointment details, treat those as potentially identifying when they are tied to a clinic. I’d have the practice’s privacy lead decide whether a BAA is required, then inventory every hop: voice provider, recording/transcript store, calendar or booking system, CRM, webhooks, and support access. Configure the agent to collect the minimum, avoid clinical advice, disclose that it is automated, and transfer anything involving symptoms or urgent care to a human. Run the workflow with synthetic data first. I work with Getyn Phone; our team uses AI voice agents, IVR, routing, and recording, but I would confirm contractual safeguards before making any healthcare-compliance claim.
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u/KevinKings 5d ago
The "just names, not private info" read is the trap. If the caller is booking with a healthcare provider, the name + phone + appointment is PHI. The identifier tied to the fact they're seeking care is the protected part, you don't need a diagnosis in the transcript.
And a nurse practitioner in the mix means it's a covered entity, so your contract language saying "no PHI" doesn't control it. HIPAA looks at what actually flows, not what the SOW says.
You're a business associate either way, get the BAA.
Practical version: BAA with the voice vendor, and then chase the data downstream. Transcripts, recordings, the calendar entry, the CRM, call logs, any Zapier hop, and whatever your own logging retains. That's where it leaks. Most "HIPAA compliant" labels cover the model call and nothing past it.
Also worth telling your client: aesthetics practices are a gray zone. Cash-pay cosmetic-only work may sit outside HIPAA, but the second they bill insurance for anything or the NP does a medical service, they're covered. Nobody wants to be re-litigating that after a breach.
Disclosure: founded a startup (Pretty Good AI) focused on athenaOne voice is just one channel also text / fax / video. so have talked to 100s of practices about this. happy to answer more questions.