Health app developers: Questions about HIPAA? Questions

I would like to know if I offer an online appointment scheduler to health care providers, would the system and I, as the programmer/manager need to abide by HIPAA or other related laws. Information included in the system would not be medical in nature; it would just be the clients name, appointment date and time, their email address and phone number. Possibly a credit card for deposits, but that's not the concern. The ...more »

We are scheduling patients through an online scheduling app. We've been told patients are de-identified if we only use the first three letters of their first and last name for the scheduling portal. Could you confirm whether or not this is HIPAA compliant?

We are scheduling patients through an online scheduling app. We've been told patients are de-identified if we only use the first three letters of their first and last name for the scheduling portal. Could you confirm whether or not this is HIPAA compliant?