By the Reassigned Numbers Database Administrator (RNDA) www.reassigned.us

For healthcare contact centers, every call and text has a purpose. It may be a reminder about an upcoming appointment, a follow-up after discharge, a care management outreach or a scheduling message that helps a patient get the right care at the right time. 

But when the phone number on file no longer belongs to that patient, even a well-intended communication can become a wrong-party contact.

The consequences for inadvertently calling the wrong person are risky. Even accidently calling a wrong number can lead to steep penalties which are $500 per violation (phone call or text) and up to $1,500 for willful violation. Many of these cases end up as class action suits resulting in millions of dollars in damages.

A brief Google search of “Healthcare TCPA lawsuits” will yield a list of several well documented instances of settled and ongoing cases involving healthcare related companies.

This risk of contacting the wrong person is why, in 2023, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requested that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) clarify how HHS and its partners can comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The result from this was the FCC’s declaratory ruling, encouraging companies that use outbound campaigns to use the Reassigned Numbers Database (RND) to take advantage of the safe harbor and avoid TCPA liability.

Phone numbers change hands more often than many organizations realize. A patient may disconnect a telephone number and that number can be reassigned to someone else. If a healthcare organization continues calling or texting the old number, the message may reach a person who never gave consent to be contacted. For healthcare contact centers, that creates more than an inconvenience. It can affect patient trust, operational efficiency, brand reputation and compliance.

The RND gives organizations a way to check whether a number has been disconnected after consent was originally obtained. In simple terms, it helps answer an important question before outreach begins: Is this still likely to be the right number for the person we are trying to reach?

This matters because healthcare contact centers are under pressure from every direction. Patients expect timely, convenient communications. Operations teams are asked to improve answer rates, reduce wasted effort and support better access. 

The RND was established by the FCC as part of a broader effort to reduce unwanted calls and texts, while giving legitimate businesses a more reliable way to avoid contacting the wrong person. All carriers, including wireless, wireline, VoIP and resellers, are required to report permanently disconnected numbers each month. Toll-free disconnect information is also reported. But the database is not just a list of currently disconnected numbers. It also records when numbers were disconnected, and those records remain useful after numbers are reassigned.

That distinction is important for healthcare. For example, a patient may have provided valid consent months or years ago. But if the number is later disconnected and reassigned, the new subscriber has not given that same permission. Checking the RND before outreach can help organizations identify numbers that should be removed, updated or reviewed before the next call or text campaign.

The FCC also created an important incentive for use of the RND: a safe harbor from TCPA liability in certain circumstances. The safe harbor is available only when the caller or its authorized agent, checks the latest update version of the RND before calling or texting and verifies that the number had not been disconnected after consent was obtained. Only the FCC’s RND is tied to this specific safe-harbor framework.

For healthcare call centers, the operational value may be just as meaningful as the compliance value. Wrong-party outreach wastes agent time, increases failed contact attempts and may contribute to numbers being blocked, mislabeled or viewed as spam. In a healthcare setting, where communications often involve sensitive relationships and urgent needs, avoiding unnecessary friction is part of protecting the patient experience.

The RND now includes more than 640 million numbers, with approximately 29 million reported disconnects each month. It is also preventing potential harm, with an average of 25 to 29 million nuisance calls and texts avoided every month.

Better number hygiene supports better patient communication. The RND can help organizations reduce wrong-party contacts, protect consumers from unwanted outreach and give healthcare teams more confidence that their calls and texts are reaching the intended person.

As healthcare continues to rely on outbound communication for access, engagement, reminders and service coordination, tools that improve contact accuracy deserve attention. The RND is a practical safeguard: check before you call, confirm before you text and make every outreach attempt more likely to reach the patient who needs it.

This is sponsored content from the Reassigned Numbers Database Administrator (RNDA).