Learning from BetterHelp's $7M Fine: Prevention Strategies for Medical Device and Equipment Companies
In the wake of BetterHelp's recent $7 million HIPAA violation settlement, medical device and equipment companies face heightened scrutiny of their digital marketing practices. The fine—the first ever for advertising technology violations—serves as a stark warning for healthcare marketers. Medical device companies particularly struggle with tracking conversions while remaining HIPAA compliant, walking a dangerous line between marketing effectiveness and regulatory compliance.
The Growing Compliance Risks for Medical Device Companies
Medical device and equipment companies face unique compliance challenges when marketing their products online. Here are three significant risks that could lead to violations similar to BetterHelp's:
1. Inadvertent PHI Disclosure Through Pixel Tracking
Standard tracking pixels from Google and Meta automatically capture IP addresses and device identifiers. When these are combined with browsing behavior on pages related to specific medical devices (e.g., glucose monitors, mobility aids, or respiratory equipment), they create what the OCR considers Protected Health Information. Many medical device marketers don't realize that a website visitor researching a specific medical device can be deemed a patient, making their browsing data PHI.
2. BAA Blind Spots with Third-Party Marketing Tools
According to the HHS Office for Civil Rights' recent guidance on tracking technologies, any third-party service that handles PHI requires a Business Associate Agreement. Most marketing platforms like Google Analytics, Meta, and HubSpot explicitly state in their terms of service that they don't sign BAAs for their standard products. Medical device companies often mistakenly assume their marketing agencies handle this compliance aspect.
3. Client-Side vs. Server-Side Tracking Confusion
Traditional client-side tracking (using JavaScript pixels directly on websites) sends data directly from users' browsers to advertising platforms, creating a direct path for PHI leakage. This was precisely what occurred in the BetterHelp case, where sensitive health information was being shared directly with Meta's advertising systems. Server-side tracking, while more complex to implement, provides a critical intermediary layer where PHI can be filtered before reaching advertising platforms.
How Curve Solves These Compliance Challenges
For medical device and equipment companies looking to maintain HIPAA compliance while running effective digital campaigns, Curve offers a comprehensive solution:
Two-Layer PHI Stripping Process
Curve's platform works at both the client and server levels to ensure all PHI is properly managed:
Client-Side Protection: Our lightweight JavaScript snippet inspects data before it leaves the browser, ensuring sensitive information like medical device search terms, symptom queries, and personal identifiers are stripped at the source.
Server-Side Filtering: All data then passes through Curve's HIPAA-compliant servers where our proprietary algorithms perform secondary filtering to remove any remaining PHI before sending sanitized conversion data to advertising platforms.
Implementation for Medical Device Companies
Medical device companies can implement Curve's solution in three simple steps:
Integration with Product Catalogs: Connect your medical device product database to allow Curve to understand which products might indicate health conditions.
Conversion Tracking Setup: Install Curve's no-code tracking solution across your website, especially on product pages and checkout funnels.
Signed BAA Activation: Complete Curve's BAA process, ensuring all data handling meets HIPAA requirements.
The entire process typically takes less than a day to implement, saving medical device marketers the 20+ hours typically required for manual server-side tracking setups.
Optimization Strategies for HIPAA Compliant Medical Device Marketing
Beyond implementing Curve's solution, here are three actionable strategies to maximize your marketing effectiveness while maintaining strict HIPAA compliance:
1. Leverage First-Party Data with Enhanced Conversions
Medical device companies can use Google's Enhanced Conversions framework to improve tracking accuracy without compromising privacy. By implementing this through Curve's server-side setup, you can securely hash customer data before sharing it with Google, improving conversion matching by up to 30% while maintaining compliance.
2. Create Compliant Audience Segments
Instead of using potentially problematic interest-based targeting, develop compliant audience segments based on non-PHI interactions with your website. For example, create segments based on users who viewed educational content about general wellness topics rather than specific medical conditions. Curve's system can help identify which audience parameters remain HIPAA compliant within your medical device vertical.
3. Implement Conversion Value Tracking for ROAS Optimization
Many medical device companies struggle to optimize campaigns based on actual revenue rather than just conversion counts. Curve's integration with Meta CAPI and Google Ads API allows for secure transmission of conversion values (without PHI) to your advertising platforms, enabling true ROAS optimization without risking sensitive data exposure.
By implementing these strategies through a HIPAA-compliant server-side tracking solution like Curve, medical device companies can avoid BetterHelp-like penalties while still achieving marketing objectives.
Don't Risk a Multi-Million Dollar Fine
The BetterHelp settlement demonstrates that the OCR is actively enforcing HIPAA compliance in digital marketing. For medical device and equipment companies, the risks of non-compliance far outweigh the benefits of cutting compliance corners. With Curve's HIPAA-compliant tracking solution, you can confidently run effective Google and Meta ad campaigns without exposing your organization to regulatory penalties.
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Mar 31, 2025