With the release of advanced healthcare apps, the world is now looking forward to the advancing compliances of different technologies. Starting from booking appointments to get reports and consultation from doctors online, these are the things that have been possible because of modern-age healthcare applications.
The healthcare industry transformed dramatically because of the advent of healthcare apps in the process. Such applications have provided users with more access to their medical information and remain aware of their health status all the time.
As per a study of Conversa Health and World Business Research, about 74% of healthcare professionals want to automate patient engagement and also had no idea where to begin. To transform this idea into reality, app development companies started developing secure messaging apps for the healthcare industry that focused on a range of tasks such as automating patient-generated health data (PGHD) to implementing AI tools for electronic records (EHR) processing.
Another study done by the Medical Group Management Association suggested that about 66.66% of healthcare organizations utilize text messaging to interact with their patients. Most such communication occurs through SMS that is a technology not developed considering security and privacy as particular factors.
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What is a Secure App for Healthcare Text Messaging?
Conveying Healthcare services related information through secure messaging apps is considered advanced software applications that can be downloaded and run on different platforms and devices. It facilitates authorized users to access personal health information (PHI) and communicate the same to other authorized users within a network privately.
With secure texting policies, employees become aware of using healthcare messaging apps to connect to the private network and indulge in secure messaging. Due to symmetrical interfaces, individual users using different healthcare apps do not need to understand their usage fundamentals.
Although safeguards are present in these applications, sensitive information of the users remains secure from external attacks. The administrators of these applications can monitor messaging activity using access reports ensuring compliant usage with identification of threats causing the integrity of personal health information records.
Significance of Secure Messaging Apps in Modern Healthcare System
The utilization of text messaging in healthcare has been useful. Because of security and privacy concerns, several healthcare institutions have started using healthcare messaging apps. Some of the main functionalities of these applications comprise literature review, websites, interacting with representatives, explanations, and case studies.
Secure messaging vendors can operate in three tiers based on symmetric levels of functionalities such as secure communication, secure communication within an existing clinical application, and dedicated communication and collaboration systems.
Healthcare App Features Utilized By Physicians to Interact With Their Patients
Source: https://dashboard.healthit.gov/quickstats/quickstats.php
Most of the users’ significant needs can relate to the functionalities of Healthcare messaging applications like enhancing security and communications. The developer community may need to consider several factors while analyzing Healthcare messaging applications. These factors comprise clinical processes to improve, archiving text messages, mobile device management, bring your device policy, and Wi-Fi architecture.
How Does a Secure Healthcare Messaging App Work?
For any authorized user, it is essential to log in to the healthcare messaging app using a unique username and PIN to access PHI with another authorized user. App users can write text messages on an unsecured channel of communication in general cases.
Users can attach media files of different formats to the text messages and send them by clicking on the ‘send’ button.
The recipient of the message then logs in to the healthcare messaging app. After the recipient gets the message, the application notifies them about the pending messaging they have not read yet.
The sender also received the notification about the message they delivered has now been seen by the recipient. Then the recipient can reply to the same thread or can forward it to other authorized users. Users can invite other users to a message thread.
How to Follow Secure Texting in Healthcare?
Many industries are utilizing secure messaging apps in their communication and internal information sharing. But in the healthcare industry, the crucial thing is to implement increased security measures protecting the user data. Members of a network can access a set of information.
There are several things to consider to secure texting in healthcare messaging apps as below.
- User Authentication
The Protection of messaging apps from unauthorized use with multi-factor authentication (MFA) can conform to the user authentication policy. With the help of 2-factor authentication (2FA), users need to confirm their identity with a password and other factors of authentication like biometric data obtained using fingerprints or iris scanning of the users.
- User Permissions
For a community-based application that deals with a lot of sensitive data of its users, it becomes significant to provide adequate permissions to access patient data based on authentication. There can be a caregiver that may possess the information of patients for caregiving purposes.
Admins can customize different sets of settings for individual users’ roles. Access levels customized by the admins for individual users also indicate their capabilities in the system.
- Message Expiration and Logging Out
With an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, it is not possible to save a user if someone else has gained access to their account credentials or other information on their accounts. To set up an expiry timer on in-app conversations can make sure that all the recently sent messages are deleted and disappeared.
As per the HIPAA standard for healthcare apps, there can be the automated logout feature in which your device gets instructions to log out an account after a specified period.
What Are the Compliances Required for a Reliable Secure Messaging App?
Healthcare apps have been segregated into different categories to make the functioning of the process simpler. Several compliances allow application users to follow a particular set of features while using a reliable healthcare messaging app.
- HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
HIPAA correlating with Protected Health Information (PHI) requires healthcare organizations to ensure the security of applications, sensitive patient, and business data in a mobile device.
- FDA Regulations
The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ensures that any standalone device or accessory like software application, directly consumable by the end-users, is approved by the FDA.
- HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health) Act
HITECH is a subsidiary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The HITECH Act aims to make healthcare more effective and efficient by featuring transformation like reduced healthcare costs, implementation of electronic health records (EHR), etc.
Why Should You Migrate to a Secure Messaging App?
The Healthcare industry thrives with its efficiency to serve hundreds of patients at affordable prices by using healthcare messaging apps. This is the reason why one can make a move to use a secure messaging app. A secure messaging app helps hospitals and other healthcare institutions dramatically to leverage maximum efficiency by delivering many benefits for your organizations. Let’s have a look at a few more reasons to migrate to a secure messaging app.
- Total Compliance
As mentioned in the earlier, compliance with HIPAA ensures significant features like instant messaging in healthcare apps. Healthcare institutions such as hospitals can’t conform to facing a 50,000 USD for a single infraction and up to 1.5 million USD for repeated violations of the standards. So it can be very understood that healthcare messaging apps with compliance follow all government sanctions, hence are secure.
- Enhance Productivity
In many reports & surveys, responders said they increased their productivity by using a healthcare messaging app to deliver healthcare services. Such apps facilitate doctors, nurses, and any other caregivers the facility to share X-rays, prescribed medications, charts, and more directly to the patients or their guardians in a very less period.
- Cost-Efficient
Using a mobile application helps reduce costs of processes than conventional ways for any particular industry, which is the care for the healthcare industry. Asking the employees to download the healthcare messaging app to engage in all the process with no required delay or prices paid for the services.
Are You Looking for a Reliable Secure Messaging App?
Lots of top healthcare app development companies are providing services to develop healthcare messaging apps, and helping hospitals, physician practices, and healthcare organizations to manage the processes in a simple, but a systematic way.
Engagement of patients is a crucial element in the modern-age healthcare process. Healthcare institutions utilize both conventional and new communication techniques to distinguish their businesses and provide patients with superior care at reduced prices.
You can consult a healthcare app development company to provide you with all the details of the development technologies and compliance required for a healthcare messaging app to be developed. This approach helps organizations to engage a HIPAA-compliant, secure, user-friendly messaging solution that improves internal communications.
Hello All,
Aman Mishra has years of experience in the IT industry. His passion for helping people in all aspects of mobile app development. Therefore, He write several blogs that help the readers to get the appropriate information about mobile app development trends, technology, and many other aspects.In addition to providing mobile app development services in USA, he also provides maintenance & support services for businesses of all sizes. He tried to solve all their readers’ queries and ensure that the given information would be helpful for them.
