how text messaging boosts to engagement and patient outcomes

Texting can keep patients motivated, engaged, and on the road to better health 

 

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

Text messaging has become a critical and strategic tool for healthcare providers. Innovative healthcare organizations and clinics are leveraging SMS as a communications channel to make the patient experience easier and more convenient. Further, text messaging is playing a pivotal role in keeping patients motivated and engaged with their providers about their well-being and treatment plans. Knowing where to start can be a challenge with implementing an initiative like this — especially given industry-specific regulations and compliance requirements.

A recent Flowroute survey found more than half of consumer respondents prefer receiving notifications — such as appointment reminders and prescription updates — via text rather than email. In fact, the study found 82 percent of all text messages are read within five minutes, therefore increasing the likelihood of interaction. Meanwhile, consumers open just 25 percent of the emails they receive.

While businesses are increasingly using SMS as a communication channel, healthcare is outpacing all other industries. In healthcare, SMS messaging is used particularly for appointment reminders and prescription refills.

A study conducted by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found text messaging systems can also benefit hospital systems and boost patient recovery times as well, as Health IT Outcomes reported. Introducing the use of a text message based hospital communication systems in place of traditional paging systems benefits not only staff but also the patients in the hospital.

According to Flowroute study the benefits of SMS include:
 

• Convenience and cost reductions: Being able to manage appointment cancellations and rescheduling via text is convenient for patents and also has a direct impact on a provider’s bottom line. No-show appointments cost U.S. providers more than $150 billion annually. The problem affects urban hospitals and small specialty clinics most, where no-show rates are between 10 and 20 percent.
• Motivation to stay engaged: Text messaging can also play a key role in improving patient engagement and involvement with their treatment plans. Reminders for prescription refills, for example, could help boost medication adherence rates and subsequently impact patient health outcomes.
• Communication on your terms: Text interactions also give patients flexibility to interact with their providers in the manner they feel most comfortable, which could enhance the patient-provider relationship and foster patient loyalty, making it more likely they will seek regular preventative care as well as treatment for chronic conditions with their healthcare professional.

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how do you get patients to actually use your patient portal secure messaging

Secure messaging over the patient portal increased in-office visits by six percent. 

Patient portals have long been championed as the new and innovative strategy for improving patient engagement and access to quality healthcare. Patients can communicate with their providers about health concerns using secure messaging and become activated in their own health.

However, new research indicates that there could be some adverse effects of patient portal secure messaging, primarily in driving up in-office patient visits.

“While there are a number of plausible arguments for the benefits of e-visits, it is also possible that the adoption of e-visits may increase the consumption of healthcare services since easier access to healthcare providers may generate additional reasons for an office visit without any attendant health benefit,” said the researchers, who hail from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Wisconsin School of Business at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Thus, the impact of e-visits on physician utilization and health outcomes is an empirical question, the answer to which is important for understanding whether and how to promote this technology.”

Frequent clinic visits can have a direct impact on clinician caseload and number of clinicians employed, the researchers argued. These factors also have an effect on patient access to healthcare, especially for patients who did not adopt the patient portal or who are new patients at the primary care clinic.

The researchers looked at secure messaging rates and office visit patterns for over 14,000 patients at a large primary care clinic system. The team also looked at how these clinic visits affected patient health and access to care for patients who did not have the clinic’s patient portal.

Overall, secure messaging resulted in six percent more in-office visits and seven percent more phone call visits, the researchers found. There was also a positive correlation between the number of office visits and health outcomes (measured using LDL cholesterol and hbA1c levels). When adjusting for external factors, that correlation became negligible.

Secure messaging removes a clinic “gatekeeper” from patient care access, the researchers pointed out. Patients who secure message with their providers about a concern do not have to go through front-office staff or nurses before accessing their clinician or scheduling an appointment, potentially resulting in an influx of visits, the researchers posited. 

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

The research team also found that visits arising from secure messaging are coming at the cost of patients who are portal non-adopters. Patients who do not have the patient portal have fewer telephone visits monthly, although there was no difference in the number of in-office visits for these patients.

Healthcare professionals should continue to encourage patient portal adoption and use with these patients. Physicians have a regulatory obligation to drive patient portal adoption and they want to ensure all of their patients can equally reap the benefits of the technology.

New patients who had not yet visited the practice also bore the brunt of increased office visits, the researchers said.

“Interestingly, we find that the additional visits appear to come at the sacrifice of new patients: after adopting e-visits, providers see 15 percent fewer new patients each month,” the team found. This means that physicians saw 1.59 fewer new patients each month.

Some clinics may be better suited for accommodating appointment influxes than others, the researchers said.

“The overall impact of e-visits on a health system will depend on the extent to which a system is (a) at capacity, and (b) compensated on a fee-for-service basis,” the team explained. “In particular, the bottom line will improve for health systems which are not at capacity and in which physician compensation is primarily on a fee-for-service basis since e-visits can increase physician utilization.”

However, these results may be bad news for providers working with a value-based or capitated reimbursement model. Clinicians are not reimbursed for the time they spend communicating with patients via the patient portal, nor are they paid a la cart for resultant in-office visits.

Additionally, these results challenge popular sentiment in the healthcare industry. Experts have long praised patient portals for being effective in streamlining patient-provider communication and potentially reducing the number of in-office visits providers must conduct. That may not be the case, the researchers concluded.

“We also show that provider e-visit adoption is linked to about a 15% reduction in the number of new patients each month, challenging notions that e-visits may increase provider capacity by offloading some care to an online channel,” the team said. “Together, our findings highlight the importance of considering patient and physician responses when introducing new models of service delivery in healthcare.”

Clinicians have long feared that patient portals would create more work for them. Responding to surveys about patient access to clinician notes and portal functionality, physicians expressed concern that patients could communicate in any given moment. Some even feared that patients would over-utilize the tools in an effort to receive “free” healthcare.

Going forward, providers will need to exercise good judgment when answering patient queries to determine the best path forward. It may not be wise for primary care clinics to allow in-office visits to become out of hand, but it is also important for providers to take secure messaging requests seriously.

Using both medical expertise and strong communication skills, providers should work to mitigate problems via secure message when possible and appropriately address larger problems as they escalate.

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4 key concerns in healthcare mobile security options to permit hipaa compliance

Accounting for healthcare mobile security within the IT budget and maintaining HIPAA compliance are essential considerations in the current environment. 

It can be daunting to choose the right mobile tools to help a healthcare organization stay innovative. It can be even more daunting though to ensure that mobile security remains a top priority and that PHI stays secure.

Healthcare IT leaders might see the value in implementing mobile options, but studies show that security is often a top concern.

How can entities properly budget for mobile options? What are the potential consequences if a HIPAA violation occurs? Why is employee training so critical for strong mobile security?

Four key considerations with mobile security. Organizations of all sizes must budget for cybersecurity, choose the right mobile tools, conduct regular employee training, and maintain HIPAA compliance with all devices.

Enable secure text messaging from any healthcare interface

Choosing the right mobile healthcare tool

Different mobile solutions will be beneficial at different healthcare organizations. Secure messaging might be necessary for larger hospital systems with specialty clinicians who need to communicate with patients. Smaller providers might not require the same mobile strategies.

Regardless, mobile security must be a key consideration throughout the entire decision-making process.

Direct secure messaging is becoming more popular, for example. DirectTrust is a non-profit trade alliance that facilitates secure HIE through the Direct Protocol. July 2017 numbers showed a 15 percent increase in the number of trusted Direct addresses able to share PHI.

There was also a reported 68 percent increase in the number of healthcare organizations served by DirectTrust health information service providers (HISPs) and engaged in Direct exchange.

The American Hospital Association’s Hospital & Health Networks (H&HN) Most Wired rankings showed that nearly three-quarters of the Most Wired hospitals offer secure messaging with clinicians on mobile devices.

Seventy-four percent said they use secure emails for patients and families to maintain contact with the care team when patients require ongoing monitoring at home. Sixty-two percent of respondents also said they can simplify the prescription renewal process by letting patients make the requests on mobile devices.

“The Most Wired hospitals are using every available technology option to create more ways to reach their patients in order to provide access to care,” AHA President and CEO Rick Pollack said in a statement. “They are transforming care delivery, investing in new delivery models in order to improve quality, provide access and control costs.”

Pagers are however still a popular tool for many healthcare organizations, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. Nearly 79 percent of respondents said they are provided pagers for communications, while 49 percent said they receive patient care–related (PCR) communication through pagers.

Fifty-three percent of 567 clinicians also said they received standard text messages once or more per day.

For secure messaging, 26 percent of 549 of those surveyed said that their organization had implemented a secure messaging option that was being utilized by some clinicians.

Overall, healthcare providers need to opt for mobile options that will aid staff members in daily operations without compromising data security.

Budgeting for necessary mobile security tools


Cybersecurity budget and resource constraints are often cited by providers as hindrances to data security. Healthcare organizations cannot expect to properly keep data secure if they do not have the necessary funds to purchase, implement, and utilize the right security tools.

With mobile security, this could include budgeting for mobile device management (MDM) solutions if BYOD is being used in a hospital. Or, a provider might need to ensure that it can afford to hire a CISO to help lead the security team.

A recent Spok survey that was administered by CHIME found that 56 percent of healthcare CIOs say that budget and resource constraints are the largest threat to patient data security. Ninety-five percent of respondents also said they were concerned about data becoming compromised, while approximately one-quarter stated they are unsure how much PHI is being shared unsecurely.

“Mobility and clinical process improvements are important to hospital leaders, and CIOs plan to make impactful changes,” the survey authors explained. “However, the execution remains a work in progress.”

Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said mobile strategies were a key initiative to improving clinical and operational outcomes. The survey also found that 40 percent of CIOs are considering or planning to hire consultants in the next 12 months to aid in the mobile communications process.

However, a ZingBox survey from July 2017 revealed that some healthcare IT decision makers find traditional security solutions used for securing laptops and servers were also enough for IoT connected medical device security. This could indicate inconsistent approaches when it comes to choosing which investments are necessary for healthcare security.

Seventy percent of respondents said their traditional security solutions were enough, while nearly 75 percent added that they are confident or very confident that all devices connected to their network are protected.

Organizations need to have communication between the C-suite and IT teams, ensuring that everyone understands the areas in which stronger data security measures are required. Mobile security solutions can differ from traditional legacy options, and applicable privacy and security tools need to be budgeted for and implemented properly.

Implementing regular employee training


Once a mobile option has been chosen and then budgeted for, employees at all levels must be trained and educated on how to use it. Employees are often cited as a top security threat to an organization, as it only takes one individual to download a malicious link, have a smartphone stolen, or send PHI to the wrong email.
OCR’s July Cybersecurity Newsletter underlined the importance of data security training, especially as the threat landscape continues to evolve.

Understanding HIPAA compliance for mobile options


The HIPAA Security Rule does not require specific technology solutions when it comes to mobile device technical safeguards. HHS does require that entities implement reasonable and appropriate security measures for standard operating procedures.

For mobile security, this means for example that a hospital utilizing smart phones will need to implement applicable security measures for those devices. This could include having remote wipe capability. That way if a phone is lost or stolen, the hospital can delete any potentially sensitive information on the device before it can fall into the wrong hands.

“HHS recognizes that covered entities range from the smallest provider to the largest, multi-state health plan,” HHS explains on its site. “Therefore the Security Rule is flexible and scalable to allow covered entities to analyze their own needs and implement solutions appropriate for their specific environments. What is appropriate for a particular covered entity will depend on the nature of the covered entity’s business, as well as the covered entity’s size and resources.”

Failing to adhere to HIPAA regulations with mobile devices could lead to heavy fines. OCR reached a $2.5 million settlement with Pennsylvania-based CardioNet in April 2017 for lacking mobile security safeguards.

“Mobile devices in the health care sector remain particularly vulnerable to theft and loss,” OCR Director Roger Severino said in a statement. “Failure to implement mobile device security by Covered Entities and Business Associates puts individuals’ sensitive health information at risk. This disregard for security can result in a serious breach, which affects each individual whose information is left unprotected.”

Mobile devices can assist healthcare organizations, but security cannot be an afterthought. Choosing the right tools, training employees, and focusing on HIPAA compliance will help covered entities find the right balance between innovation and security.

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regulatory and compliance standards for the healthcare industry

Not only will secure texting and secure messaging impact provider-to-provider communication, but also provider-to-patient. 

With the continued push for patient-centered care and ever-evolving technological options available to healthcare providers, secure texting and secure messaging have become an increasingly popular path for providers.

Not only will secure texting and secure messaging impact provider-to-provider communication, but also provider-to-patient.

For example, secure messaging use increased 30 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to a data brief released by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). Specifically, 52 percent of physicians said they exchanged secure messages in 2014.

Moreover, 42 percent more physicians granted their patients view, download, or transmit access to their electronic health information.

ONC also found that there was just a small increase in the number of physicians electronically sharing patient health information with other providers. Between 2013 and 2014, there was just a 7 percent increase in that area, with less than 1 in 10 physicians sharing patient data with hospitals with which they were not affiliated.

When it comes to BYOD strategies, healthcare providers need to ensure that their employees – the end-users — receive comprehensive training and education so they understand what their responsibilities are, according to Spok CIO Tom Saine.

“Security is not just the responsibility of the security officer or the IT department,” Saine told HealthITSecurity.com. “In all aspects of security, the biggest weakest link in any security policy, procedure, or practice is the human being.”

However, it’s also essential to deploy solutions that are not overly cumbersome for the end users, he added.

“You have to figure out how to do that where it's not an overly burdensome impact to the end users doing his or her job,” Saine explained. “There has to be some things in there that make it a little bit more difficult, but you have to be able to find that happy medium.

Overcoming common secure texting, messaging concerns

Strong communication is central to care coordination, according to Gaudet, and the proper communication tools and channels help providers communicate, collaborate and deliver care across the continuum.

“If you look at the state of the industry as a whole, we just spent a bunch of years and money moving from paper-based care – paper-based documentation, and charts for example – to electronic systems,” he stated. “And multiple billions of dollars went into that transformation for healthcare.”

Gaudet added that now, providers have everything they need electronically about the patient, but they haven’t really approached the way that care is coordinated.

“What we find is that communication is broken in healthcare. And hospitals are using outdated forms of technology and processes like pagers, and call centers with operators to route calls, and faxes to send documents.”

However, that line of communication is clearly becoming more important in terms of working directly with patients.

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how secure text messaging for healthcare keeps communications safe, improves workflows, and complies with industry .

Secure messaging has the potential to aid groups of patients in receiving proper care, but PHI security cannot be overlooked in the process. 

 

Healthcare secure messaging is an increasingly popular way for clinicians to communicate with patients, even offering patients the chance to better manage chronic conditions. PHI security cannot be compromised with the technology though, and providers must ensure they prioritize patient privacy.

One recent study indicated that secure messaging use could positively impact diabetes patients, with individuals who communicate in this manner being more likely to have frequent visits with their provider.

Seventy-two percent of patients with diabetes reported they used secure messaging, according to a study published by the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

Researchers studied patients with diabetes who were enrolled in an online portal of an outpatient healthcare organization in 2011 to 2014.

“Patients with diabetes frequently used secure messaging for medical advice in addition to routine visits to care providers,” the team explained. “Messaging was positively associated with better diabetes management in a large community outpatient practice.”

For those who used secure messaging, additional messages were associated with better outcomes.

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

In 2014, 65 percent of respondents reported any type of patient-initiated message. Sixty-three percent stated they had any provider-initiated message.

A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) earlier this year also found that provider secure messaging levels can predict their patients’ communicative behavior.

Patients who had providers that were highly responsive to other patients’ messages initiated 334 percent more secure messages than patients with providers who did not personally respond to other patients’ messages.

“Secure messaging could facilitate the development of deeper relationships by increasing interaction time, making patients more comfortable about asking questions and discussing embarrassing issues, and allowing physicians to provide better advice and education,” the research team wrote. “However, such benefits are likely to be realized only if patients and providers are both committed users of the technology.”

Even with increased provider usage, PHI security must be maintained in healthcare secure messaging. Specialized care is no exception, and certain patients might be more vulnerable to lackluster privacy settings.

McLean Hospital researchers found that there are lacking privacy measures in apps designed for dementia patients.

Of 125 reviewed iPhone apps that matched to the search terms of “medical + dementia” or “health & fitness + dementia,” 33 had available privacy policies.

Seventy percent of the apps described safeguards on data, and nearly three-quarters differentiated between protections for individual versus aggregate data, the researchers explained.

“No one using an app for a mental health-related reason should assume that privacy and security measures are in place,” said McLean Geriatric Psychiatry Outpatient Services Medical Director Ipsit Vahia, MD.

Vahia added that the research “represents a note of caution to researchers, clinicians, as well as patients and their families” who might be considering mHealth options for managing certain conditions.

The research team pointed out that dementia patients could be particularly vulnerable because their “cognitive impairment puts them at increased risk of privacy breaches.”

Patients and caregivers must “pay attention to the type of information that they provide to the app, and try to understand what can be done with that information,” Vahia explained. “[Dementia patients] using the app may be suffering from the disease and not fully understand privacy policies, even when they exist.”

Both healthcare providers and companies creating mHealth applications can utilize federal guidelines to ensure that they are remaining HIPAA compliant, and are working toward patient privacy.

The HIPAA Security Rule does not require specific technology solutions when it comes to mobile device technical safeguards but does require reasonable and appropriate security measures be implemented.

With secure messaging for example, an organization should potentially consider an option that utilizes data encryption. If a network was accessed, a mobile device was stolen, the translation card or key would also need to be taken.

“HHS recognizes that covered entities range from the smallest provider to the largest, multi-state health plan,” HHS states on its website. “Therefore the Security Rule is flexible and scalable to allow covered entities to analyze their own needs and implement solutions appropriate for their specific environments. What is appropriate for a particular covered entity will depend on the nature of the covered entity’s business, as well as the covered entity’s size and resources.”

Tools must be chosen that are innovative, but also able to maintain PHI security. Failing to consider privacy and security measures could lead to a data security incident, or even heavy federal fines.

Secure messaging can help connect providers with patients, and may even encourage patients to take a greater interest in their personal healthcare. However, entities must consider their potential vulnerabilities and risks before implementing new technology.

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how diabetes can be effectively managed in most patients thorugh online text messaging

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

A US study reports people can improve their diabetes management following secure online messaging with their healthcare team.

A cohort of people with type 2 diabetes who had enrolled in an online portal of an outpatient healthcare organisation from 2011-14 were evaluated. This communication was an accompaniment to routine visits to healthcare providers.

Scientists from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute in California wanted to see if messaging increased quality measures among the cohort. Around 72 per cent of the cohort used the messaging service, and those who frequently visited their health provider were more likely to message.

Those who used the messaging service were more likely to meet their HbA1c targets. This association grew in accordance with frequency of messaging, and regardless of whether the messages were initiated by doctors or patients. This relationship was strongest amongst those not treated with insulin.

In comparison, those who didn't use the messaging service were less likely to meet their HbA1c target.

The researchers also discovered that increased messaging frequency was also positively associated, but less significantly, with process measures such as eye examination.

"Internet-based secure messaging between patients and providers through a patient portal is now common in the practice of modern medicine".

"Patients with diabetes frequently used secure messaging for medical advice in addition to routine visits to care providers. Messaging was positively associated with better diabetes management in a large community outpatient practice."

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Do you believe these 5 common secure messaging myths in healthcare?

Over the past few decades, text messaging has evolved from an obscure, cost-prohibitive technology to a nearly ubiquitous means of communication, with 98% of all messages read. According to the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA), with 76% of seniors and 86% of low-income individuals owning a mobile phone, this technology spans socioeconomic divides and generational gaps. Despite widespread adoption, healthcare companies often fail to take advantage of this high-impact, low-cost way of engaging patients.

Many are hesitant to engage healthcare consumers via mobile messaging because of changing federal regulations and increased litigation related to text message campaigns. Here are the top five myths surrounding mobile messaging in healthcare.

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

Myth #1: Mobile messaging is prohibited by the TCPA

Contrary to what some may believe, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) actually doesn’t prohibit healthcare companies from engaging with patients via text message.

While the TCPA was originally enacted to set limitations for telemarketing during the dinner hour, it was later expanded to include unsolicited text messaging. But the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) looks favorably on healthcare messages, requiring the least restrictive level of consent for healthcare messages.

To determine if a message violates TCPA restrictions, the FCC generally evaluates whether or not the individual receiving the message would likely want to receive the message. Unlike traditional telemarketing messages, the answer is a resounding “yes” when it comes to texts related to the recipient’s health. Whereas telemarketing typically pushes a product or service, providing individuals with mobile content for their health and wellness allows them to take charge of their health—leading the FCC to classify healthcare messages as informational.

Myth #2: You must obtain prior written consent

In 2012, the FCC strengthened its TCPA regulations, requiring businesses to obtain prior express written consent when sending automated telemarketing messages to consumers. However, healthcare-related messages are specifically exempt from these enhanced consent requirements in the FCC’s regulations. Simply put, healthcare messages are not telemarketing messages.

As such, if a consumer has released his or her number to a healthcare organization, they have given all the consent that is required under the TCPA to lawfully send automated healthcare text messages to that individual’s mobile number. Because this information is generally gathered during the patient intake and insurance enrollment processes, healthcare organizations typically obtain all the consent needed under the TCPA through their standard business practices and do not need to change anything to begin engaging their consumers via text messaging.

A best practice is to conduct initial outreach immediately upon receiving the mobile number, sending a message welcoming them to the program and informing them of their intent to send health-related messages. At the same time, you should also provide the individual with the option of replying ‘STOP’ at any time to opt out of receiving any further communication. Since patients are allowed to opt out of receiving mobile messages, it’s in an organization’s best interest to diligently track these opt-out requests.

Myth #3: Messages must be free to the end user

Another common misconception is that mobile messaging must be free to the end user. One new FCC exemption allows healthcare entities to send texts on their own behalf to individuals if they haven’t obtained consent directly from the recipient, so long as the communications are free of cost to the recipient, are related to an exigent medical situation, and meet a few other conditions. However, when the recipient has provided his or her phone number directly to the healthcare organization or its agent responsible for sending the text message, texts do not have to be free.

An example of how this can work is that a pharmacy or drug manufacturer that receives a patient’s number from a doctor could use this new exemption to send messages on their own behalf. But the doctor or hospital that receives the patient’s number directly from the patient still have all of the consent needed to send autodialed healthcare messages on their own behalf. This new exemption doesn’t change that.

Myth #4: Mobile messaging isn’t HIPAA compliant

While certain precautions must be taken when communicating sensitive patient information, mobile messaging is allowed under HIPAA. Under HIPAA’s privacy rule, patients can select their preferred means of communication for sensitive information, including text messaging.

Additionally, as HIPAA’s security rules dictate, businesses may approve texting as a means of patient engagement after performing a thorough risk analysis and establishing a secure communication platform.

In the end, nothing prevents a healthcare provider from communicating with a patient via text message as long as they apply reasonable safeguards when doing so.

Myth #5: Mobile messaging is just too risky

Despite all of this, many may still view mobile messaging as a risky endeavor.

While there has been litigation surrounding mobile messaging, the vast majority of these cases center around unsolicited telemarketing messages. However, since healthcare messages expressly fall outside of the restrictions on telemarketing messages under binding FCC decisions, they are provided additional legal protections.

As long as guidelines are followed, courts have no choice but to rule in favor of an organization in TCPA litigation. In one notable and recent healthcare case, Hudson v. Sharp Healthcare, a patient claimed a hospital violated the TCPA by contacting her to collect unpaid hospital bills via autodialed calls. However, since the FCC previously established a patient’s release of a telephone number during the intake process constituted prior consent, the court was obligated to dismiss the case.

With healthcare-related texts being among the most favored messages by the FCC, and as mobile messaging is one of the most effective means of communication, if you aren’t texting your healthcare consumers, you’re missing out. With a 98% read rate, mobile messaging provides a huge opportunity to boost patient engagement and drive improved outcomes.

When it comes down to it, you can’t afford not to be engaging with healthcare consumers via mobile messaging.

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integrating mobile messaging with patient portals

The waiting room is full, there is a line forming in front of the scheduling desk, new patient information has to be collected, patients’ records must be updated, and appointments need to be rescheduled. The patient intake process, particularly for new patients, can be time-consuming and arduous for administrative staff.

One of the most effective ways to reduce staff’s workload, while speeding up the patient intake process, is with automated mobile-first messaging strategies. This approach provides significant efficiency boosts for many tasks, including appointment alerts, offsite check-ins, completion of paperwork such as consent forms or intake forms prior to an appointment, and reduces strain on administrative staff.

Mobile Messaging vs. Online Patient Portals

Many healthcare organizations rely on patient portals to engage their patients. The challenge, however, is that patient portals have just a 29 percent adoption rate nationally. These low rates may simply reflect that patients are unaware of these online services via portals, but patients may also be unable or unwilling to access these platforms.

Despite the cause of these barriers, this low adoption rate makes portals impractical for contacting patients quickly and relaying important information. By utilizing the immediacy (and automation potential) of texting, clinical staff is able to receive confirmation from patients so that they no longer have to send multiple alerts through patient portals or make several phone calls to contact a patient. For immediate, time-sensitive communication regarding appointment times and reminders, staff must have access to mobile technologies that patients are willing to turn to when they are needed most.

Aside from the immediacy and popularity of smartphones, mobile strategies can streamline the communication process for a healthcare organization’s staff. Mobile tools make it possible to store communication templates, save contact information to reach patients and approved family caregivers quickly, create custom surveys to gauge patient satisfaction, and offer a variety of other customizable features. By implementing these tools, providers can communicate quickly and easily with patients using a secure messaging platform.

Save Time and Reduce Data Entry Errors

Electronic patient intake forms give patients the option of providing patient health histories and other medical information (e.g. information about medications the patient is currently taking) when it is most convenient for them and via their mobile device. By allowing patients to securely complete intake forms prior to an appointment, they have time to accurately track and log their medications. This process gives patients time to verify their health histories, consulting documentation or past physicians to confirm information.

Online forms are also tremendously valuable in saving staff time as they eliminate the need to transcribe data, scan, and securely store or dispose of files. By eliminating the transcription process, the likelihood of errors resulting from data entry is reduced. This is an important factor considering that inaccurate data entry was found to be one of the leading causes of medication errors in a study conducted by the U.S. Pharmacopeia. Reducing the likelihood of errors while increasing efficiency for staff and patients is a tremendous benefit of adopting mobile technologies.

Reduce Last Minute Cancellations And No-Shows

Automating reminders about upcoming appointments and giving patients the option of canceling or rescheduling via a mobile device creates more flexibility for patients. Not only does this benefit patients, but it also reduces costs associated with missed appointments. No-shows are estimated to cost the healthcare industry $150 billion dollars annually, reducing the number of missed appointments can improve bottom lines while allowing physicians to accommodate more patients.

Remind Patients What They Need To Bring to Encounters – Or How They Need to Prepare

Patients are responsible for bringing a number of items to encounters including insurance cards, ID cards, a copay, or any medications that they may be taking. Oftentimes patients must also follow specific preparation instructions, such as fasting, in order to ensure they are prepared for their visit. Mobile technologies and platforms set up with encounter-specific business rules can automatically send these reminders and instructions at precisely the right time prior to the encounter. Communicating this information directly to the patient’s mobile device increases preparedness and reduces avoidable delays and cancellations.

Connecting with patients using mobile messaging is an efficient way to send patients vital reminders, reduce errors resulting from inaccurate intake forms, decrease no-show rates, and add a layer of convenience for a mobile generation. A mobile-driven patient intake process can be implemented and tailored to almost any process or intake strategy to promote efficiency and allow staff to focus on patient care. The versatility and immediacy of a text-based strategy makes it ideal for those looking to improve provider-patient communication and the overall patient experience.

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how hl7 messaging can help patient access to health care providers

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Segmentation

Secure Messaging in Healthcare market would provide various applications to the healthcare industry, and by various types of secure messaging, we can segment the market into the following:

• Medical Compliance
• Direct Secure Messaging
• Secure File Transfer
• Secure Forms Processing
• Secure Patient Information
• Others

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market can also be segmented by end users which are as follows:

• Hospitals
• Clinics
• Nursing Homes
• Long Term Care
• ASC’s and Trauma Centers
• Rehabilitation Centers

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Dynamics

Secure Messaging in Healthcare market is primarily driven by a few key factors such as sharing healthcare data in a reliable format, easy to use, and less time-consuming. In addition to this Secure Messaging in Healthcare market also observes significant growth due to its compliance with the HIPAA guidelines ensuring that the communication would be safe. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market gains a significant drive from applications such as cost-effectiveness, improving the overall operational efficiency of healthcare organization, and comprehensive clinical decisions. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market will also strengthen the healthcare market by providing robust functionality and interface capabilities.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare market, however, require guidelines and regulatory framework to determine the extent to which these services would be used by providers. Secure Messaging in Healthcare could be misused if proper policies, procedures, and training are not initiated. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market is also associated the cost for deployment and lack of skilled workforce which restraints the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market growth over the period.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Region-wise Outlook

Based on geography, the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market can be segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. At present, North America holds a leading position in the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market followed by Europe. The major driving factors which have driven the growth of the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market in this region is support from the government, and increase in the number of operational setups by various companies. Following North America, European countries are also anticipated to show steady growth in the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market. Currently, Asia-Pacific is in a nascent stage for Secure Messaging in Healthcare market as in the coming years would be developing at a very rapid pace showing the emergence of regional and international players.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Key Players

Secure Messaging in Healthcare is relatively new technology which is anticipated to play a huge role in the healthcare industry. Some of the major players operating in Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market are TigerText, Imprivata, Inc., Voalte, Spok Inc., Doc Halo, Vocera Communications, Cerner Corporation, Intelligent Business Communication – AGNITY, AMTELCO, Avaya Inc., PatientSafe Solutions, Inc., CellTrust® Corporation, Extension Healthcare and many others. Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market has the presence of many local players which have a huge market share in developed countries.

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how healthcare communication increases effectiveness in delivering patient care

Secure messaging is often seen as an efficient way to communicate, but a recent survey shows face-to-face meetings are still preferred in healthcare.

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

Healthcare communication is ever-evolving, as more organizations continue to implement BYOD options and secure messaging or secure texting platforms. Providers want to have effective ways to communicate that do not compromise patient information.

A recent survey from Everbridge indicates though that while secure messaging is an effective option, it is not necessarily the preferred method for how covered entities choose to communicate.

Everbridge interviewed 158 emergency department employees about communication challenges that arise during patient care coordination.

Eighty-two percent of respondents said face-to-face discussion was the most effective form of communicating with co-workers about patient care, while 80 percent reported that secure texting was the most effective.

Delayed communication methods were cited as the least effective communication means, with 30 percent of those surveyed rating voicemail as a poor option. Twenty-nine percent said that pagers were a poor form of communication and 24 percent cited faxes as a lackluster option.

Twenty-two percent of respondents also reported that more than 1 in 5 hand offs involve communication errors that could endanger patient care outcomes.

Handing off patient information is more likely to occur in the emergency room, according to the survey, as those teams are often larger. Over half of those surveyed – 59 percent – added that there are more hand offs to other care team members than for treatments originating elsewhere in the hospital.

Everbridge Healthcare Solutions General Manager Eric Chetwynd explained that emergency department staff should not be focused on what communication method would be best.

“There should never be any worries about whether patient care instructions were correctly received and understood,” Chetwynd said in a statement. “With the growing acceptance of mobile technologies in emergency departments, there is an excellent opportunity to make co-worker communications more efficient and effective – reducing the potential for errors that could affect patient care.”

Mobile technologies are increasing in popularity, the survey found. Three-quarters of respondents said they are using mobile phones, while 49 percent use secure messaging to enable mobile real-time communications.

Emergency department staff are also more likely to use a personal mobile device for communication, as 76 percent of physicians and 45 percent of clinical staff can now use personal devices in the emergency department.

There are multiple challenges with patient care coordination during hand offs, the report explained. Waiting for physicians to respond to hand off requests was the top issue, while deciphering handwritten information, deciphering handwritten information, and delays receiving information were also key challenges.

However, there was no clear “best” method of communication found, as 89 percent of respondents admitted that they must use five or more different channels to communicate with co-workers about patients.

Secure messaging can greatly improve healthcare communications, giving providers another option for sending information quickly, efficiently, and securely. However, there are potential adoption barriers that covered entities need to address before implementing a new system.

DirectTrust addressed some of these barriers in a white paper earlier this month, stating that vendors must standardize and enhance their users' experience in handling inbound and outbound Direct secure messaging.

A DirectTrust workgroup made more than 50 recommendations for EHR vendors and HIT product vendors in how they can work toward overcoming usability issues with their secure, interoperable clinical messaging products.

With regard to HIPAA regulations, the workgroup recommended that organizations prevent information forwarding.

“The receiving system is able to prevent the forwarding or resending of behavioral health, substance abuse treatment or other information as required by state and federal law, unless appropriate patient consents are documented,” the workgroup stated. “[This] prevents the inappropriate distribution of patient information that would be in violation of existing law.”

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how secure texting and secure messaging impact provider-to-patient communication

A recent study found that increased training for both patients and providers can help healthcare secure messaging be a more beneficial tool. 

With patient portals helping fuel healthcare secure messaging, additional training for both patients and providers can help alleviate “rules of engagement” concerns, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR).

Researchers found that patients worried more about imposing on their physician’s time, lacking provider compensation for responding to secure messages, and not knowing when to use secure messaging for provider communication.

Providers voiced concerns on a lack of clarity for when was appropriate to communicate with patients via MyChart.

“Unlike the other features of a patient portal, such as viewing lab and test results or requesting appointments, secure messaging allows for the exchange of direct communication between patients and providers,” the research team wrote. “As a result, studies suggest that a patient’s relationship with a provider is a key predictor of the patient’s intention to use secure messaging.”

Researchers interviewed 13 primary care providers and 29 of their chronic disease patients who are familiar with the Epic MyChart.

Both patients and providers stated that secure messaging was beneficial for communication.

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

“Most commonly, both groups felt that the ability for each party to respond according to their own schedule increased the efficiency of communicating,” the team explained. “Several patients specifically mentioned the benefit of conversations that could occur asynchronously, according to the patient’s and provider’s individual schedules, without reliance on telephone calls to the office.”

However, some patients were concerned that they would take up too much of their provider’s time by using secure messaging instead of going into the physician office. Additionally, it is not always clear when is the appropriate time for patients to utilize the secure messaging function, the study found.

Providers had three main concerns with healthcare secure messaging:

• Unfocused or insufficient information in the messages
• Inappropriate message topics
• Incorrect use of the secure messaging feature

Overall, the “rules of engagement” must be clarified, the researchers concluded.

Patients need to be taught how to use MyChart appropriately, such as knowing how to communicate via the portal and “understand when to use secure messages versus when to call or schedule an appointment.”

Printed materials could also be presented to patients when they first start using a patient portal. Individuals can learn how to create an account and then properly navigate through the portal’s features, including the secure messaging feature.

Providers will also benefit from a more in-depth training on secure messaging and patient portals, the researchers noted.

“Additional training that exposes providers to the patient view of the portal may provide a more complete understanding of the patient experience and help them to better interact with their patients,” the research team stated. “In addition, guidance could be provided on how to communicate in secure messages or alongside lab and test results.”

It will also be beneficial for providers to establish clear and consistent guidelines on patient portal expectations. Even patients who are experienced with patient portal usage may have difficulty understanding when secure messaging is appropriate and what time of information to put in a secure message.

“While there are a range of technical solutions that could be implemented to improve patient and provider communication via secure messaging, it is important to elicit input from all stakeholders in designing these modifications,” researchers concluded.

“The patients in our study, who were experienced users, had clear thoughts on what they liked about the secure messaging and identified specific areas in which they were uncertain about how to use this tool,” the team continued. “Discussions with patients can help to further refine their concerns and develop new ways to address them.”

Both providers and patients need to have a strong understanding of secure messaging for the technology’s benefits to be fully realized.

A study published in JMIR earlier this year found that provider secure messaging levels can predict their patients’ communicative behavior.

Patients who had providers that were highly responsive to other patients’ messages initiated 334 percent more secure messages than patients with providers who did not personally respond to other patients’ messages.

“Secure messaging could facilitate the development of deeper relationships by increasing interaction time, making patients more comfortable about asking questions and discussing embarrassing issues, and allowing physicians to provide better advice and education,” researchers explained. “However, such benefits are likely to be realized only if patients and providers are both committed users of the technology.”

That study also showed that patients with high initiation-messaging providers were 60 percent more likely to send a secure message than patients with non-initiation-messaging providers.

Increased provider-initiated and provider-response messaging were associated with statistically-significant increases in the adjusted probability of patient-initiated secure messaging among US Army soldiers, the research team concluded.

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how secure text messaging in healthcare provide effective communication workflows

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

Secure Messaging in Healthcare can be defined as the use of technology to share patient data securely, integrates workflow operations efficiency, increase coordinate care and is in compliance with the HIPAA requirements. The widespread use of technology such as mobile phones, tablets, and notebooks in the healthcare setting given end users and opportunity to improvise communication regarding patient data. Secure Messaging in Healthcare would induce patient-centric care and help providers to provide value-based care. Secure Messaging in Healthcare can assist in provide to provider communication and also in provider and patient communications.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare market is primarily driven by a few key factors such as sharing healthcare data in a reliable format, easy to use, and less time-consuming. In addition to this Secure Messaging in Healthcare market also observes significant growth due to its compliance with the HIPAA guidelines ensuring that the communication would be safe. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market gains a significant drive from applications such as cost-effectiveness, improving the overall operational efficiency of healthcare organization, and comprehensive clinical decisions. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market will also strengthen the healthcare market by providing robust functionality and interface capabilities.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare market, however, require guidelines and regulatory framework to determine the extent to which these services would be used by providers. Secure Messaging in Healthcare could be misused if proper policies, procedures, and training are not initiated. Secure Messaging in Healthcare market is also associated the cost for deployment and lack of skilled workforce which restraints the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market growth over the period.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Region-wise Outlook

Based on geography, the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market can be segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. At present, North America holds a leading position in the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market followed by Europe. The major driving factors which have driven the growth of the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market in this region is support from the government, and increase in the number of operational setups by various companies. Following North America, European countries are also anticipated to show steady growth in the Secure Messaging in Healthcare market. Currently, Asia-Pacific is in a nascent stage for Secure Messaging in Healthcare market as in the coming years would be developing at a very rapid pace showing the emergence of regional and international players.

Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market: Key Players

Secure Messaging in Healthcare is relatively new technology which is anticipated to play a huge role in the healthcare industry. Some of the major players operating in Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market are TigerText, Imprivata, Inc., Voalte, Spok Inc., Doc Halo, Vocera Communications, Cerner Corporation, Intelligent Business Communication – AGNITY, AMTELCO, Avaya Inc., PatientSafe Solutions, Inc., CellTrust® Corporation, Extension Healthcare and many others. Secure Messaging in Healthcare Market has the presence of many local players which have a huge market share in developed countries.

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why healthcare organizations need to have secure communications on PHI safeguards

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

In summer 2017, cybersecurity certainly had the world's attention. No less than the presidents of the United States and Russia discussed the issue in person.

In our own world of healthcare, data security may not carry as much political weight, but if you ask patients, it's probably more important. Secure messaging for healthcare offers a good example of why: No one wants to imagine an email from a physician containing sensitive health treatments getting intercepted by a rogue who somehow jumped the barbed wire fence of data security measures.

Secure communications solve an important business challenge of helping clinicians and patients save time with routine interactions, such as providing lab results. Methods for this communication can range from emails via a patient portal to more sophisticated collaboration techniques.

But, as with many devices and software in healthcare, threats to protected health information always cast a shadow on how well hospitals safeguard communications between physicians, nurses and patients.

An article in sister publication, SearchUnifiedCommunications, about the core security elements behind a business messaging app or suite. Two areas struck me as particularly important for hospitals and other medical organizations:

• Encryption remains hugely important for secure messaging for healthcare organizations. "For an enterprise messaging application, end-to-end encryption is a desired outcome, especially when relying on cloud services and third-party servers to manage and route messages," the story noted.
• Also, because patient information is regulated by HIPAA, healthcare organizations must verify that whatever communications app they use reflects the privacy and security law's requirements.

This new handbook builds on these security tips with additional best practices for protecting healthcare communications and associated patient data.

Blockchain has potential in this area. The cryptography-based technology creates a tamper-proof series of transactions -- such as exchanging health data -- that guards against breaches. Whether hackers can break into a blockchain code remains to be seen, but the option is worth investigating to better ensure secure messaging for healthcare.

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how the health industry is using SMS to improve patient care

The growth of text messaging (SMS) has matured over the last several years, and the potential for businesses across all industries to incorporate texting into business operations and customer communication is vast. Companies in the restaurant delivery, banking, transportation, and ride-sharing industries have been successful in using SMS as a communication channel because it provides their employees and customers with an efficient, private and convenient way to interact.

Text messaging has also emerged as a popular and effective way for many organizations to improve customer experience. According to a national survey, alongside email and phone calls, SMS ranks in the top three communication methods consumers prefer when interacting with businesses. In fact, over half of survey respondents indicated they would view a business more positively if it offered SMS capabilities.

Deliver better healthcare through effective use of secure mobile messaging

The healthcare industry in particular is outpacing others in its use of SMS. Physician's offices are leveraging texting as a strategic tool to improve the patient experience and their own internal processes. Common use cases for SMS include notifications around appointment reminders, prescription refills and test results, as well as managing wait times.

Independent and hospital-owned practices that employ SMS for the processes listed above, can realize a number of benefits pertaining to internal and external procedures.
 

The following are three examples of how healthcare providers are using SMS as a communication channel to their benefit:

 

Optimized appointment schedules.The ability to manage appointment schedules by sending reminders, cancellations, and reschedule-requests via text is not only convenient for patients, it also has direct implications on the physician office's bottom line.

For example, if the office has a waitlist and the ability to text patients when there is an appointment opening - especially a last minute opening - they are able to fill the appointment slot and utilize the staff present where there would have been a no-show appointment (a major expense costing the U.S. healthcare system more than $150 billion each year).

Being able to mitigate no-shows via text alerts is a definitive way to optimize the appointment schedule and minimize operational costs such as overstaffing, improper booking of machinery/lab equipment, etc. A more organized schedule with accurate wait times results in a more relaxed environment and happier patients.

Increased flexibility for customers. SMS also gives patients the freedom to communicate with their healthcare providers in a way that is intuitive and easy for them. By giving patients the choice of how to interact with their healthcare providers, SMS has the potential to enhance the patient-provider relationship and strengthen patient loyalty, increasing the likelihood that the patient will reach out for preventative care, as well as ongoing treatment for chronic issues. In addition, offering the flexibility to communicate via text reduces much of the hassle associated with listening to voicemails or making phone calls about test results at an inconvenient time or place.

Improved treatment and patient care. Physicians' offices have also begun to use SMS in innovative ways such as reminding patients to take their medication, checking insulin levels, and sending motivational text messages that encourage positive behaviors (i.e. eating healthy and increasing activity) and reduce negative behaviors (i.e. smoking). These alerts demonstrate a level of care and involvement from the healthcare provider, while also improving the patients' health and quality of treatment.

In fact, a recent study from the American Heart Association hypothesized that using automated mobile health notifications with tracking and texting components may increase physical activity. The results showed that patients who received these motivational and informative text messages walked an additional 2,500 steps each day, compared to individuals who did not receive the messages. This strategy, although not yet widespread, has great potential to become a common and successful practice among healthcare providers due to the huge popularity of wearable activity trackers on the market today.

Together, these strategies have the potential to make a significant difference in enhancing the patient experience with a provider, as well as their engagement with a treatment plan. Healthcare providers looking to incorporate SMS as a communication channel not only have the potential to further benefit a patient's well-being, but also establish themselves as a trusted partner with a deep level of emotional investment in their patients long-term health plan.

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