Generally, these activities are allowed under HIPAA. However, care must be taken not to inadvertently place the patient’s privacy at risk. The “Notice of Privacy Practices” tells the patient that we will use his/her information for appointment reminders; however, it is good policy to make sure that the patient understands how we will be handling this process. Appointment reminders that include the name of the clinic that might give away a diagnosis should not be used or should be made more generic. You should never leave health information, such as lab results or any other type of confidential information on a voice mail or answering machine.