eSignature for healthcare
E-signatures for clinics, practices and healthcare providers
Clinics, therapists, dental offices and wellness providers handle many forms: consent forms, releases, staff contracts and vendor agreements.
eSignSimple can speed up administrative paperwork. It does not currently claim HIPAA compliance or sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs), so healthcare organizations should confirm their regulatory requirements before sending protected health information.
Our take: healthcare is the one industry where we would rather under-promise. Patient information is sensitive and heavily regulated, and a signing tool is only one part of a compliant workflow. That is why we recommend starting with the paperwork that does not involve patient health information at all.
There is plenty of it: staff employment contracts, contractor and locum agreements, NDAs with vendors, equipment leases, cleaning and IT service agreements, and marketing photo releases. Moving those online frees administrative time without raising the harder regulatory questions.
Paper forms at the front desk
Sending forms before an appointment reduces waiting-room paperwork. Where your compliance review allows it, forms sent ahead of a visit also mean fewer clipboards and fewer illegible handwritten entries.
Staff and vendor paperwork
Employment contracts, NDAs and service agreements can be signed online like in any business. These documents follow the same rules as in any other business, and they are often where the most administrative time goes.
Regulatory obligations
Rules such as HIPAA may apply to patient information. Check whether a tool meets your obligations before using it for patient data. If your organization needs a vendor that signs a BAA, choose one that does. We state plainly that we do not currently offer one.
Documents you can sign electronically
- Medical consent forms
- Photo and video releases
- Liability waivers
- Employment contracts
- NDAs
- Vendor service agreements
Tips
- Confirm your regulatory requirements (such as HIPAA in the US) before sending documents that contain patient health information.
- Use eSignSimple first for administrative documents like staff contracts and vendor agreements.
- Keep signed consent forms with the certificate of completion.
- Write down which document types are allowed in which tool, so front-desk staff do not have to make a compliance judgement on the spot.
- Keep consent form wording under clinical and legal review; the signing tool records agreement, it does not make the wording adequate.
- Our take: if in doubt about whether a document contains protected health information, treat it as if it does and keep it on your approved clinical system.
Templates for healthcare
Frequently asked questions
Is eSignSimple HIPAA compliant?
eSignSimple does not currently claim HIPAA compliance and does not sign BAAs. Healthcare organizations should confirm their regulatory requirements before using it for protected health information.
Are e-signatures legally binding for these documents?
In most cases, yes. Simple electronic signatures are recognized under the US ESIGN Act, UETA and the EU eIDAS Regulation. Some documents, such as wills or certain court and real property filings, may need wet ink, witnesses or notarization depending on the jurisdiction.
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