No, it's absolutely is not a HIPAA violation if the patient requests email communication. But it's a common myth.
A patient can consent to receive protected health information over email or other unsecured channels as long as they are informed of the risks and consent anyways. Patients are allowed to communicate about their own health to whoever they want to in whatever manner they want.
Myth 3: HIPAA prohibits email communication with patients about clinical matters.
Fact: You can send protected health information by email, but you must implement safeguards under the security rule to ensure the information is secure, accessed only by authorized individuals, and not altered, edited, or deleted. The best way to do this is to encrypt your emails; however, patients have the right to request access to their own information via unencrypted email. You may send patient information by unencrypted email if you have advised the patient of the risks and the patient still prefers unencrypted email.
A patient can consent to receive protected health information over email or other unsecured channels as long as they are informed of the risks and consent anyways. Patients are allowed to communicate about their own health to whoever they want to in whatever manner they want.
For example - the American Academy of Family Physicians has the following to say about it - https://www.aafp.org/pubs/fpm/blogs/inpractice/entry/hipaa_m...
Myth 3: HIPAA prohibits email communication with patients about clinical matters.
Fact: You can send protected health information by email, but you must implement safeguards under the security rule to ensure the information is secure, accessed only by authorized individuals, and not altered, edited, or deleted. The best way to do this is to encrypt your emails; however, patients have the right to request access to their own information via unencrypted email. You may send patient information by unencrypted email if you have advised the patient of the risks and the patient still prefers unencrypted email.