Secure Enterprise Messaging Insights

The Latest Trend in Healthcare Communications? Hospital Secure Messaging

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced plans to more effectively monitor breaches of electronic protected health information (ePHI) to comply with HIPAA regulations. This means that a robust hospital secure messaging platform is more important than ever before.

Previously, healthcare organizations relied on paper-based methods of communicating and storing patient information. Not only are paper-based processes expensive, but they’re highly unsecure. Hospitals and physician offices that don’t make the switch to a secure messaging solution for internal communications face non-compliance penalties and heavy federal sanctions.

Hospital Secure Messaging Solutions and HIPPA Compliance

The increased presence of mobile devices has enabled more organizations to incorporate SMS and instant messaging into communication practices. However, simply allowing employees to use personal mobile devices to share patient information violates HIPPA regulations. Why? Because consumer-grade solutions don’t do enough to safeguard ePHI.  

What you need is a hospital secure messaging solution. Designed with HIPAA compliance in mind, a platform secure enough for hospitals and healthcare organizations will check off every box when it comes to the safety and integrity of patients’ health records and information: 

  • High-Level Encryption – Secure messaging solutions for hospitals need to have high-level encryption in place to protect information during transmission. At a minimum, the platform you choose should have industry-standard 256-bit level encryption. For added security, pick a messaging solution that uses elliptical key exchange – it scrambles messages as they are transmitted, unlocking them only once they’ve safely reached the receiver’s mobile device.  
  • Centralized Storage – Message and data storage is always a top concern in healthcare organizations, and HIPAA regulations outline the need for a secure storage center for messages. A hospital secure messaging platform meets compliance regulations by providing secure, centralized repositories to house messages and documents sent between employees.
  • Account Controls – The use of messaging software on employees’ personal mobile devices doesn’t mean you have to lose account access and control. A messaging platform built for hospitals and health care organizations gives IT and account administrators total control over employee accounts. This includes abilities to archive messages, call up and delete message history and remove inactive accounts.
  • Message Delivery Notifications – When sharing ePHI, it’s important for hospital staff to know that messages have reached their intended recipients. Advanced messaging solutions provide notifications of successful message delivery, as well as read receipts. It’s also beneficial to pick a platform that can deliver secure SMS messages in the event users are out of Wi-Fi range.

Hospital Secure Messaging You Can Rely On

The latest innovation from Infinite Convergence Solutions, NetSfere helps hospitals, healthcare providers and practices improve organizational efficiency and internal communication, while remaining HIPPA compliant. Our solution offers robust security, reliable message delivery, unparalleled account controls and more to make implementing instant messaging technology headache-free.

To learn more about NetSfere’s hospital secure messaging solutions, contact us today.  

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