Protected Health Information (PHI): A Guide for Marketing Teams for Hospice Care Services

Hospice care marketing teams face unique compliance challenges when running digital advertising campaigns. Unlike general healthcare services, hospice marketing often involves targeting bereaved families and managing sensitive end-of-life data. Protected Health Information (PHI) violations in hospice advertising can result in devastating penalties – up to $1.9 million per incident. Traditional tracking pixels inadvertently expose patient conditions, family contact information, and care timelines to advertising platforms, creating massive liability risks for hospice organizations.

The Compliance Crisis: Three Critical PHI Risks in Hospice Marketing

Meta's Lookalike Audiences Expose Family Medical History
When hospice organizations upload customer lists for Facebook's lookalike targeting, they often include family members who may have genetic predispositions to terminal illnesses. This data becomes part of Meta's advertising ecosystem, potentially violating HIPAA's minimum necessary standard.

Google Analytics Reveals Patient Care Timelines
Traditional client-side tracking captures URL parameters containing admission dates, diagnosis codes, and care facility locations. The HHS Office for Civil Rights specifically warned about tracking technologies in their December 2022 guidance, stating that healthcare entities remain liable even when third-party vendors process PHI.

Retargeting Campaigns Leak Sensitive Demographics
Hospice retargeting often targets family members researching specific conditions. Client-side pixels send this behavioral data directly to advertising platforms, where it's combined with other user profiles. Server-side tracking prevents this data leakage by processing information on HIPAA-compliant servers before sending sanitized conversion data to platforms.

Curve's PHI-Free Tracking Solution for Hospice Organizations

Curve's dual-layer protection ensures complete PHI compliance for hospice care marketing teams. Our client-side PHI stripping automatically identifies and removes protected information before any data leaves your website. This includes family contact details, patient conditions, and care facility identifiers commonly found in hospice marketing funnels.

At the server level, Curve processes all tracking data through HIPAA-compliant infrastructure with signed Business Associate Agreements. Our system connects directly to popular hospice management platforms like MatrixCare and Brightree, ensuring seamless integration without exposing sensitive patient data.

Implementation for Hospice Services:

• Connect your hospice management system via our no-code interface

• Configure PHI filters for family member data and patient timelines

• Enable server-side conversion tracking for Google and Meta campaigns

• Receive compliance certification within 48 hours

HIPAA Compliant Hospice Marketing Optimization Strategies

Leverage Google Enhanced Conversions with PHI Protection
Use Curve's hashed customer data integration to power Enhanced Conversions without exposing family email addresses or phone numbers. Our system automatically strips medical information while preserving conversion attribution for your hospice marketing campaigns.

Implement Meta CAPI for Compliant Retargeting
Meta's Conversions API allows hospice organizations to send conversion data directly from servers, bypassing browser-based tracking entirely. Curve manages this process while ensuring no PHI reaches Meta's advertising platform, enabling effective family outreach campaigns.

Create Compliant Lookalike Audiences
Build high-performing lookalike audiences using demographic and geographic data only. Curve's PHI-free tracking solution identifies converting visitor patterns without exposing medical conditions or care details, allowing hospice teams to scale advertising while maintaining HIPAA compliance.

Ready to run compliant Google/Meta ads?
Book a HIPAA Strategy Session with Curve