HIPAA-secure messaging is the exchange of patient information—often referred to as protected health information (PHI)—between physicians, nurses and hospital staff via a secure and encrypted platform that adheres to the mandates of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.
Failure to use a HIPAA-secure messaging application when exchanging messages that contain PHI can result in HIPAA fines.
The 2013 HIPAA legislation passed by the U.S. Congress requires:
Healthcare institutions are moving to HIPAA-compliant messaging applications that provide secure messaging and uphold the mandates of HIPAA.
According to the Ponemon Institute, the use of traditional pagers in a healthcare setting adds costs and prolongs patient care. Research shows that pagers cost the healthcare industry an additional $11 billion per year.
These costs are the result of pagers causing delays in providing patient care as well as in wasted time from using pagers to coordinate care. Waiting to get access to the right doctor and exchanging the correct information are some consequences of using pagers.
According to a study by the University of Pennsylvania, “Patients whose hospital care providers used mobile secure text messaging as a means of communication had shorter lengths-of-stay compared to patients whose providers used the standard paging system to communicate.”
Physicians that prefer to exchange emails rather than send text messages face increasing scrutiny of their communication methods, guiding them to use HIPAA-secure messaging with greater frequency to ensure that any PHI is encrypted and secure.
HIPAA-compliant messaging applications ensure message accountability and eliminate the need for physicians to play “phone tag.” This means that physicians can spend less time trying to reach colleagues and wait for responses. Instead, they get quick responses to their texts and can better focus on their patients.
Nursing units benefit from faster, more complete responses from physicians and other colleagues. For example, a nurse needs a second opinion on an electrocardiogram (EKG). With HIPAA-secure messaging, he can immediately forward the image of the EKG to a colleague along with comments. Because messages sent via the app get attention, he can rest assured that the message does not get lost in a full inbox or among dozens of voicemail messages. For better accountability and peace of mind, he can see when the message is read.
Nurses can also accelerate care delivery and get more accurate diagnoses by transmitting photos in a secure and encrypted manner to the consulting physician.
OnPage’s encrypted messaging platform enables secure messaging for doctors through the exchange of secure text messages, images and voice messages. All communications are secure, encrypted and hosted in OnPage’s SSAE-16-compliant facility.
OnPage provides an easy-to-use system with a learning curve of under 10 minutes. Administrators will find the OnPage platform equally easy to use and can configure on-call schedules and follow audit trails in a short amount of time.
OnPage enables hospitals to offload the security burden many healthcare facilities face when they adopt smartphones as part of their clinical communication strategy. OnPage takes over the burden of encryption, security and HIPAA compliance and allows hospitals to focus on patient care.
By deploying the OnPage platform, hospitals can:
OnPage provides on-call rotations and escalations. Web console administrators can task physicians and create “turns” if the first person is unavailable. This helps eliminate physician burnout. OnPage also provides distinguishable high-priority alerts. This way, on-call physicians will always know the severity of alerts!
Current integrations include OpenEMR and Amion physician scheduling. OpenEMR continuously monitors a patient’s electronic medical records and triggers an alert to physicians and/or care teams via the OnPage smartphone app. The Amion integration allows care teams to automate the manual on-call process and give patients direct 24/7 access to on-call physicians.
OnPage streamlines clinical processes and helps organizations achieve maximum patient satisfaction. Discover the power of OnPage by requesting an enterprise free trial today!
Discover six common misconceptions about HIPAA-compliant messaging that could put your business at risk of data breaches, miscommunication and regulatory fines.
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