Learning from BetterHelp's $7M Fine: Prevention Strategies for Hospice Care Services
BetterHelp's recent $7.8 million FTC settlement exposed how digital tracking can weaponize sensitive health data. For hospice care services, the stakes are even higher – your patients' end-of-life care decisions, family communications, and comfort care preferences represent some of the most protected health information under HIPAA. When hospice providers use standard Facebook Pixel or Google Analytics, they're unknowingly transmitting patient identifiers, referral sources, and service inquiries directly to ad platforms.
Three Critical HIPAA Risks Facing Hospice Care Marketing
Risk #1: How Meta's Broad Targeting Exposes PHI in Hospice Care Campaigns
Meta's automatic audience expansion uses your website visitor data to find "similar" users. When hospice websites send unfiltered tracking data, this includes patients researching palliative care options, family members seeking grief counseling, and referral partners accessing patient portals. The platform then targets ads to people with similar health profiles, creating an algorithmic disclosure of protected health information.
Risk #2: Client-Side Tracking Vulnerabilities
Traditional Facebook Pixel and Google Analytics collect data directly from user browsers (client-side tracking). For hospice services, this means patient IP addresses, device fingerprints, and behavioral patterns flow unfiltered to advertising platforms. The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) December 2022 guidance specifically warns that tracking technologies on healthcare websites may violate HIPAA when they transmit individually identifiable health information to third parties.
Risk #3: EHR Integration Data Leaks
Many hospice providers integrate their patient management systems with marketing automation tools. Without proper PHI filtering, admission dates, diagnosis codes, and family contact information can inadvertently sync with advertising platforms through hidden tracking pixels or form submissions.
How Curve's PHI Stripping Protects Hospice Care Services
Client-Side Protection
Curve's intelligent filtering system identifies and blocks protected health information before it reaches advertising platforms. Our solution recognizes hospice-specific data patterns like comfort care inquiries, family consultation requests, and bereavement support form submissions. This data is sanitized in real-time, removing patient identifiers while preserving marketing attribution.
Server-Side Security
Through HIPAA compliant server-side tracking via Facebook's Conversion API (CAPI) and Google Ads API, Curve processes all data through our secure, BAA-protected infrastructure. Your hospice care website never directly communicates with ad platforms. Instead, we hash and anonymize conversion events server-side, ensuring full HIPAA compliant hospice care marketing while maintaining campaign performance.
Implementation for Hospice Services:
Connect your patient management system securely
Configure PHI filtering for hospice-specific forms and inquiries
Enable server-side conversion tracking for family consultations and admissions
Activate PHI-free tracking for referral partner campaigns
HIPAA-Compliant Optimization Strategies for Hospice Marketing
Strategy #1: Leverage Google Enhanced Conversions Safely
Google's Enhanced Conversions can improve attribution by matching hashed customer data. For hospice services, Curve enables this feature while filtering out protected information like diagnosis codes and treatment timelines. Our system hashes only non-PHI identifiers like general contact information from public inquiries.
Strategy #2: Implement Meta CAPI for Family Outreach Campaigns
Meta's Conversion API allows server-side event tracking without exposing patient browser data. Curve's integration helps hospice providers track family consultation bookings and support group registrations while maintaining complete patient privacy. This approach delivers 40% better conversion tracking accuracy compared to traditional pixel-based methods.
Strategy #3: Create Compliant Lookalike Audiences
Build powerful lookalike audiences using only non-PHI data points. Curve helps hospice providers segment audiences based on geographic regions, referral source types, and general inquiry categories – never medical conditions or patient status. This approach maintains campaign effectiveness while ensuring learning from BetterHelp's $7M fine doesn't repeat in your organization.
Ready to Run Compliant Google/Meta Ads?
Jan 8, 2025