trends in healthcare messaging in 2017

Healthcare messaging by vectramind

Healthcare trends in messaging in 2017 Across the healthcare sector, clinicians and administrators have abandoned pagers and other outdated technologies in favor of secure healthcare messaging platforms that allow employees to instantly share information and files withsaging  coworkers. We look at various trends in Healthcare messaging in 2017

 #1 Security healthcare messaging  is more important than ever. Cyber security continues too be a  a persistent theme at across healthcare organizations Not coincidentally, it’s also a highly relevant topic in messaging because healthcare enterprises are taking a much closer look at the security implications of sharing messages and files. As bewildering as it sounds, many healthcare employees are still using non-secure, consumer-grade messaging apps to share PHI and other sensitive information, creating serious security vulnerabilities for their organizations and their patients. As more and more healthcare organizations mandate the use of secure messaging platforms, expect to hear more about what constitutes robust security in messaging and how large healthcare enterprises are addressing security concerns. 

#2 HIPAA risks in healthcare messaging  are accelerating. Messaging has the potential to introduce a slate of HIPAA-based risks to the organization. Although HIPAA compliance has always mattered, it’s even more important now, since there is evidence that HHS is accelerating enforcement and ramping up fines for violations. In August, federal  US regulators reported a record $5.55 million settlement with a large healthcare system for data security violations — a development that CNBC noted as a sign that regulators are more willing to penalize HIPAA violations than in the past. Going forward, healthcare organizations will prioritize the implementation of secure enterprise messaging technology to mitigate compliance-based risk, but expect to hear much more about HIPAA risks at HIMSS 2017.

#3 Interoperability is becoming an issue in healthcare messaging. So far, many healthcare organizations have limited the use of messaging to internal communication. That’s about to change as forward-thinking healthcare professionals begin to use messaging to collaborate with partners, patients and other external stakeholders. The key to external messaging is interoperability — organizations can’t responsibly use messaging externally unless they can guarantee the same level of security, control and compliance they enjoy in internal messaging. Although most messaging technology providers haven’t started to address interoperability, industry leaders have.