The change we’ve experienced as a result of COVID-19 has been unprecedented. In the healthcare sector, we’ve seen extraordinary innovation in response.

As healthcare providers and other responders struggle to curb the spread of the virus while continuing to deliver care through the pandemic, a hyperfocus on patient engagement has emerged. Successfully engaging today, though, requires remote-first solutions, like video functionality, phone calls, and text messaging.

To enable that engagement, we’re thrilled to share that today, Twilio is able to sign Business Associate Addendums (BAAs) for our key products Programmable SMS, Programmable Voice, and Programmable Video, to enable HIPAA compliance across these critical offerings.

For years, Twilio has supported and served healthcare providers with our suite of products and offerings. Organizations partner with Twilio to facilitate to seamless, powerful communication, including:

• to make it easier for providers to send appointment reminders in a timely manner and cut down on costly missed appointments;

• to provide better preventative care, saving money on emergency visits;

• to get lifesaving emergency care mobilized in underserved areas;

• to foster collaboration among physicians across the world; and

• to eliminate fraud around medical equipment and keeping its data secure.

Now that Twilio can sign BAAs across SMS, voice, and video, Twilio can go even further in its support of healthcare payers and providers, ensuring the highest quality data privacy and security.

With this new eligibility, healthcare industry leaders in the U.S. can leverage the world’s leading customer engagement platform to quickly and effectively build custom solutions that scale now and into the future, while meeting the requirements needed to keep patient data safe. Now, it’s possible to be up and running with a HIPAA-compliant, fully-functional app that can be deployed to the cloud in just minutes.

With Twilio’s support for HIPAA compliance, industry leaders can:

• enable providers to effectively engage their patients;

• enable reliable health management for patients via prescription medication reminders,

• rapidly offer telehealth opportunities for continued patient care,

• go beyond simple appointment reminders to more seamlessly connect patients and providers for improved coordination, and

• streamline billing operations for faster processing and payment.

At a time when systems are strained and healthcare professionals are working harder than ever to provide critical care, we’re honored to help providers meet patient needs while managing precious resources—providers like MDLive, as they lead the way in patient engagement via video, and CipherHealth, which launched a remote COVID-19 screening outreach program to help providers better allocate precious resources in just 48 hours. Mount Sinai health system, one of the largest health systems in New York, has radically changed how they communicate with patients, starting with an SMS chatbot to triage patients and route them to a live chat with a nurse when necessary, so patients can text and explain their symptoms instead of visiting an ER. Adoption has increased 10x in the last month.

It’s an honor to support first responders and frontline workers as they manage this crisis, and to support their continued operation and success as we all navigate and build our new normal. To learn more about HIPAA eligibility and get started quickly on a BAA, visit our HIPAA page.

Learn more about other ways to access support at this time:

• Expanded eligibility for our Impact Access program which provides $500 in Twilio product credits plus additional 25% discounts beyond nonprofits to any organization providing direct response efforts benefiting the public around COVID;

• Free Twilio Video for three months for healthcare, education, and nonprofit institutions;

• 20,000 free hours of Twilio Flex per month to organizations helping with direct response through August 31;

• A grant to fund organizations helping at-risk communities recover from COVID: sign up for updates here.