HIPAA-Compliant Forms Explained: How to Build Secure Digital Forms for Patient Data

A HIPAA-compliant form means, a form that meets all technical, administrative, and physical safeguards required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) when handling sensitive patient data.

Let’s break down what that means today. We demonstrate: 

• What HIPAA-compliant forms really are
• How they differ from regular forms
• Examples of common violations
• How HIPAA compliant form tools like MakeForms help you stay compliant 

Let’s begin, 

Who Does HIPAA Apply To And Why Does It Exist?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a national standard in the U.S. which protects Protected Health Information (PHI) of US residents. 

It applies to covered entities such as, healthcare providers, health plans, and healthcare clearinghouses in the United States, or collecting PHI from the United States, as well as their business associates. (Anyone who may be gaining access to the data)

And what is PHI?
PHI or ePHI is any information that can identify a patient and relates to health, treatment, or payment, for eg: full name, social security number, medical record number, insurance ID, etc.

So in essence, HIPAA is built for the privacy and security of PHI. (Privacy & Security are the two golden words for us all to remember, it comes back a lot while we learn more about being HIPAA Compliant.) 
It is designed to give your patients privacy, control, and confidence over how their personal health information is collected, shared, and stored.

When a healthcare provider, like you, is HIPAA-compliant, you’re assuring patients that their most sensitive details, from medical conditions to insurance data, are protected by law and handled with care by you.

What Makes You HIPAA Compliant?

First, let’s clarify that as a covered entity, you are required to be HIPAA compliant, overall, as an organization, not just with your forms. HIPAA Compliance dictates a Security Rule, and a Privacy Rule. 
The Security Rule can be divided into three main categories: Technical, Administrative, and Physical safeguards. Here's a breakdown:

1. Technical Safeguards

• Encryption and Decryption: All ePHI must be encrypted during transmission and storage using data encryption.
• Access Control: Only authorized personnel should get access to protected health information (PHI)
• Audit Controls: There must be systems to record and examine access to ePHI.
• Integrity Controls: ePHI cannot be altered or destroyed in an unauthorized manner.
• Transmission Security: All ePHI must be transmitted over secure networks.

2. Administrative Safeguards

• Workforce Security: All employees must have appropriate access to PHI and undergo HIPAA training
• Security Management: HIPAA covered entities must identify and mitigate risks to ePHI through regular risk assessments.
• Contingency Planning: They must have a data backup and recovery plan.
• Security Incident Procedures: Implement a process for responding to security breaches involving PHI.
• Business Associate Agreements (BAAs): Ensure that all third-party vendors, or business associates, handling your organizations’ PHI sign BAAs to be legally bound to HIPAA regulations.

3. Physical Safeguards

• Data Residency: Under HIPAA, PHI of U.S. residents must be stored within the United States (or in data centers that meet HIPAA’s physical and legal standards). This ensures that U.S. privacy laws protect the data and that it’s not exposed to foreign jurisdictions.
• Facility Access Controls: There must be restricted physical access to locations where ePHI is stored.
• Workstation Security: All workstations handling ePHI must be secured and only used by authorized staff.
• Device and Media Controls: There must be responsible use and disposal of devices that store ePHI, such as hard drives and USBs.

And the Privacy Rule, is where consent comes in: 

The Privacy Rule defines when and how PHI can be used or shared, and this is where consent and patient rights come into play. It includes:

• Patient Authorization: Before sharing or using PHI for non-treatment purposes (like marketing, research, or external data sharing), a provider must obtain the patient’s written consent.
• Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP): Patients must be informed, in clear language, about how their data will be used, stored, and shared.
• Right to Access and Amend: Patients have the right to view their medical records and request corrections if something is inaccurate.
• Minimum Necessary Rule: Even with consent, only the minimum necessary amount of PHI should be disclosed for a given purpose.
• Revocation of Consent: Patients can withdraw their authorization at any time, and the provider must respect it moving forward.

Now let’s understand how this is applied to your forms. 

Okay, what makes a form HIPAA Compliant?

It is obvious that most PHI, nay, ALL PHI is collected through forms. Intake forms, appointment forms, medical history forms, insurance forms, billing forms, and more. 

So your forms are truly the portal of where PHI is collected. 

If you’re using only offline forms (which is unlikely), or using online forms - your sensitive patient data submitted in those forms is being transmitted somewhere. That’s your PHI in transmission.

And once it’s transmitted, your PHI doesn’t just disappear, it’s stored somewhere. That could be on a secure server, inside a cloud database, or displayed on an internal dashboard. That’s your PHI in storage.

This is what the HIPAA Security Rule governs. 

Now when you show your customer this form, do they know their PHI is going to be stored by you?

Can they get access to it whenever they want?

Can they ask you to delete their information from your database?

This is what the HIPAA Privacy Rule governs. 

How Do You Actually Make a Form HIPAA-Compliant?

Now that you know what is behind HIPAA, let’s talk about the how.

Building a HIPAA-compliant form means ensuring every stage of data collection, transmission, and storage follows the standards you just learned. AND ensuring your patient has complete power and consent over their data.

Does that mean you’re going to have to do all this by yourself?

Code encryption? Build access control systems? Set up audit logs and secure databases from scratch?

Of course not. But it is a shared responsibility. 

While HIPAA compliance may sound technical, you don’t need to be a developer or cybersecurity expert to meet these requirements. What you do need is to choose the right tools and platforms, ones that already have these security and privacy features built in, and share this responsibility with them. 

Modern HIPAA-compliant online form builders like MakeForms are designed exactly for this. Here’s a clear breakdown of what HIPAA safeguards we have built in, and which HIPAA administrative safeguards you can build in your organization. 

HIPAA Compliance in Action: Form Builder and Provider

As you can see, a lot of the heavy lifting is actually done by HIPAA compliant form builders, like us. And, for you, it’s more administrative, more than anything else.
Well, on that very happy note, why don’t we show you how easy it actually is to create a HIPAA compliant form on MakeForms, without writing a single line of code.

How to Build a HIPAA-Compliant Form in MakeForms

MakeForms is a no-code, AI powered form builder, which is 100% HIPAA compliant. We help medical organizations, clinics, healthcare providers, like you, create secure forms, save and organize patient data, with easy to understand reports. Follow these steps to make your first HIPAA compliant form with MakeForms.

1. Choose how to build a form

You can start with a ready-to-use template, drag-and-drop fields to create a custom form, or simply prompt our AI with a short description of the form.

2. Add form fields

Once you’ve got a draft of your form, use our drag-and-drop form builder to add/edit privacy policies, consent checkboxes. You can even add in file upload fields, payment sections, or date picker fields, so patients can upload their documents, make payments or book appointments directly. With 35+ field types, you can match any intake, consent, or feedback flow.

3. Add logic

You can set up conditional logic in your form, so you can minimize the PHI you’re collecting. For eg, if someone says “No” for “Do you have allergies”, then you do not need to show them further questions about allergies. 
Conditional logic helps you hide questions that are not relevant. 

4. Add Verification

If you want to protect your forms from fraud or spam, you can simply enable OTP Verification, and ensure your patients verify their identity with a Phone or Email OTP before they submit their forms.

5. Design your form

Next, customize your form with your brand colors, logo, and fonts for a clean, professional look.

6. Publish and share

Then, simply, hit Publish to go live. Share via link, embed on your website, or generate a QR code. View all responses securely on your dashboard and integrate with your EHR.

You’re Ready To Go!  A Final Word on HIPAA Safety

HIPAA compliance is a legal and ethical responsibility. So every form you use to collect patient data carries sensitive, protected information, and if that form isn’t HIPAA compliant, you’re putting both your patients’ privacy and your organization at risk.

Violations can be shockingly costly, ranging from  $137 to $68,928 per penalty, and in some cases, reaching up to $1.5 million per year. And these fines don’t just hit big hospitals; even small clinics and solo practices have faced penalties for using unsecured online forms or storing PHI on non-compliant platforms.

Using a HIPAA-compliant form builder like MakeForms takes that weight off your shoulders. 
Don’t forget, when it comes to patient trust and data security, cutting corners isn’t an option. Choose a HIPAA-compliant platform. Protect your patients, and protect yourself today with MakeForms