Hospital Robocall Protection Group Adopts Best Practices Report on Preventing Unlawful Calls

Recommendations Focus on Voice Service Providers, Hospitals, and Federal and State Governments Collaborating on Prevention, Response, and Mitigation

WASHINGTON, December 14, 2020—The Hospital Robocall Protection Group (HRPG), a federal advisory committee, met today to present a report to the Federal Communications Commission recommending best practices that voice service providers, hospitals, and federal and state governments can follow to prevent unlawful robocalls from disrupting communications in hospitals.

The Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) requires that the HRPG specifically address how voice service providers can prevent unlawful robocalls made to hospitals, how hospitals can better protect themselves from such calls, including by using robocall mitigation techniques, and how the Federal Government and state governments can help combat such calls.

“As our nation’s hospitals face steep challenges during this unprecedented pandemic, I applaud the thorough and focused efforts of the HRPG to quickly create effective guidelines based on the direction provided in the TRACED Act,” said FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. “The recommendations issued today will help us all work together to put an end to the scourge of robocalls that impact public health and safety for patients and communities across America.”

Hospitals currently face a broad range of unlawful calling activities, including telephone denial-of-service attacks, targeted social engineering, and phishing schemes. These calls can disrupt critical communications, threaten patients’ privacy, facilitate unauthorized access to prescription drugs, and divert important hospital resources.

Recognizing that efforts by any single entity will not adequately protect hospitals from illegal robocalls, the HRPG recommendations focus on collective efforts and encourage a coordinated response among hospitals, phone companies, and government agencies, to mitigate the impact of these calls.

“Stopping illegal robocalls is a priority for the Federal Trade Commission, and I want to thank Congress for focusing on hospitals in creating the HRPG,” added Commissioner Noah Phillips, the FTC representative of the group. “The HRPG is a great example of what can be accomplished when government, industry, and consumer groups work together. I hope the report will guide the efforts of hospitals, service providers, and government agencies in protecting medical facilities, healthcare workers, and patients from illegal robocalls. The FTC will continue to do its part through aggressive law enforcement, and by promoting technological solutions and consumer and business education.”

“The FCC has taken aggressive action to block illegal robocalls, and the best practices contained in today’s report will provide America’s health care heroes with additional tools to end these calls,” said Commissioner Brendan Carr, FCC representative to the HRPG. “Hospitals are on the front lines of important life-saving work, and I want to thank all of the HRPG members for the time they have devoted to this effort and for rallying to this cause.”

The full report on best practices is available on the HRPG’s webpage: https://www.fcc.gov/hospital-robocall-protection-group.