Secure Text Messaging is Here – Don’t Wait Until it’s Too Late!

Posted April 26, 2013 in doctors answering service, medical answering services, secure messaging by admin

Our company attended a conference last week for managers of medical practices and, as expected, HIPAA compliance was one of the big topics. Medical offices across the country have been converting to electronic health record (EHR) systems to remain compliant with HIPAA and related regulations. Although the benefits are many, the process has been a burdensome, multi-year effort on a large majority of those medical offices, and there is still a lot more work to be done.

Technology Moves Faster Than Government Regulation

The original Act was signed into law in 1996, well before anyone could have predicted the massive explosion of smart phones and smart devices in recent years. As technology has improved to manage electronic health data, so has the means to communicate and distribute electronic data (including accidental or erroneous transmissions via smart devices). Many physicians were early adopters of smart phones, and text messaging quickly became a much more efficient communications method, rapidly replacing the limited functionality of pagers that were so popular among physicians only a short time ago.

The Information Is Out There

Almost all of us have electronic health record information out there, likely accessed through multiple systems, in multiple locations, including sensitive information; and we don’t really know for sure who all has access to it. But patients’ rights to privacy are also a big part of HIPAA regulations so we have to have some faith that our medical providers, insurance providers, employers, and any other involved parties are acting in our best interests to keep our data secure when handling sensitive information.

One More Thing…

As a professional answering service, we have several medical providers as clients, and we understand the burdens they have been through in recent years. Adding secure text messaging to their communications protocols is becoming a necessary step to remain HIPAA compliant, since a lost or stolen smart phone with patient information on it could quickly become a huge liability to a physician’s entire practice. The challenge is, the added security can mean additional steps in the communications process and added costs for that security layer. To assist our clients in their efforts, we have researched the various HIPAA compliant solutions for secure messaging and identified the ones that offer the best combination of ease-of-use, functionality and price. The evolving integration of healthcare, technology and communications is currently moving at a rapid pace. If your practice is struggling with ways to secure your communications, don’t wait any longer. Find a partner that will help you get up to speed and stay there – because the alternative isn’t pretty!

To learn more about Main Line TeleCommunications, please download our free guide:
Free: 10 Tips For Choosing a Telephone Answering Service

Or visit our Contact Us page.