Monday, January 9, 2017

healthcare organisations and why do they need a Hippa compliant messaging platform



The United States  HIPAA Privacy: What this means  (United States Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996)


Many hospitals and healthcare organisations still rely on antiquated communications processes, including loudspeakers and pagers. In addition, there's no telling when the emergency room or general practices can become flooded with patients. When these influxes occur, an outdated communication system negatively affects a staff's ability to meet patient needs.

When the number of users increase, these kinds of traditional messaging systems does little to address patient problems and improve productivity But simplifying communications isn't as easy as installing an instant messaging application. Healthcare facilities need to ensure that any messaging system used internally is HIPAA compliant or HL7 compliant: 

A healthcare messaging app is a popular way of complying with the HIPAA security and privacy rules relating to the secure communication of protected health information (PHI). Apps for secure healthcare texting are easy to use and promote compliance with HIPAA through a number of safeguards that prevent breaches of PHI.

HIPPA compliance HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is United States legislation that provides data privacy and security provisions for safeguarding medical information. means that  are several safeguards that protect PHI on apps for secure healthcare texting.

For example having the authorized users  to verify their ID with a username and password; and, once they are in the secure environment, security mechanisms prevent the saving of PHI to external hard drives, the copying and pasting of sensitive information or the forwarding of PHI to locations outside of the network. All activity on the healthcare messaging app is monitored to ensure compliant use of the app, and administrative controls exist to remotely recall and delete any communications that could possibly result in a breach of PHI. Remote wipe and PIN lock controls also exist, so that any access to PHI is removed if a mobile device is lost, stolen or sold to another owner.

HHS published a final Privacy Rule in December 2000, which was later modified in August 2002. This Rule set national standards for the protection of individually identifiable health information by three types of covered entities: health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers who conduct the standard health care transactions electronically. Compliance with the Privacy Rule was required as of April 14, 2003 (April 14, 2004, for small health plans).


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