The Patient Account Deletion feature is essential for maintaining user privacy and ensuring compliance with data protection laws. When a patient requests to delete their account, all personal data, including health data, is permanently removed from your Virtual Practice storage. The patient’s access to both the web and mobile applications of the Virtual Practice will be terminated. However, payment bills will not be deleted and will remain on file for records. This process ensures that patients have control over their personal information and that organizations remain compliant with legal standards.
Deleting a Patient Account
Only the Primary Account Owner has permission to delete a Patient User Account. However, the organization must verify the authenticity of the request before completing the deletion. Deletion of a patient’s account results in the removal of all data, including health records and personal information, with the exception of payment-related information, which will be retained in the records of the Virtual Practice. This aspect is conveyed in the Patient Terms of your Virtual Practice, and it is important that your patients are aware of this.
Ability for Patients to Request Deletion of Account
The ability for patients to delete their user account is included under the My Account section in both the patient portal and patient mobile applications.
Additionally, to comply with Google Play Store requirements, the option for patients to request deletion of their user account is also publicly accessible from the Patient Portal Website with a built-in verification flow. Patients can find the “Request Account Deletion” link in the footer of the Patient Portal website.
The URL of this page must be configured in your App Store account under the appropriate settings.
On submission of their Deletion Request, patients will be shown a message that they will be informed when the account has been deleted, after applicable processing. It is possible to configure the messaging shown to the patient, when they choose to delete their account.
Complying With Account Deletion Requests
When patients submit Account Deletion Requests, the Primary Account Owner and Admin Contact of your Virtual Practice will be notified. Upon receiving a Delete Account request from a patient user of your Virtual Practice, the organization must verify the authenticity of the request before completing the deletion, ideally by contacting the patient. It is important to comply with Delete Account Requests within a specific timeframe applicable to your service. Once you have decided to proceed with a Delete Account Request, you can use the Delete Patient Account feature to affect the deletion.
Patient Account Deletion Information Settings
On requesting deletion of their Patient Account, patients will be shown important information to note, including a reminder about the applicable terms which they can view under the Patient Terms of your Virtual Practice. You can edit this information in accordance with your organization’s policy using the “Account Deletion Information” accessible under Compliance Settings. You can find the Compliance Settings under the Operation section on the main Settings page.
Admins can add compliance information using the Markdown editor, a user-friendly and lightweight formatting system. This ensures that patients are well-informed about the policies involved in account deletion.
Note: A default Compliance Settings text is available in the Virtual Practice. You can edit this text to include your organization’s policies regarding account deletion.