However big or small, a miscommunication between healthcare professionals may have disastrous consequences. Whether you're exchanging PHI (patient health information) or simply discussing schedule changes, it's important to message the right person at the right time.
Sounds easy, right? It may surprise you, but healthcare miscommunications are not so avoidable while using everyday communication tools.
Key problems with most consumer-grade messaging apps
Messaging within healthcare has traditionally been done through a variety of channels such as email, SMS, WhatsApp, and pagers. However, these methods have a number of limitations that can compromise the security and efficiency of communication within healthcare teams. Let’s take a look at how these common messaging tools impact the overall welfare of an organization.
Related article: WhatsApp in Clinical Practice - The Challenges or Record Keeping and Storage. A Scoping Review
Most EHR platforms flooding the home care market serve organizations by keeping data in one hub. Although they might succeed at storing health data, their weakness lies in effective communication.
Since their main focus is on storing PHI, they haven’t spent much time creating a messaging system that is functional for the everyday user.
Platforms that do include a messaging feature aren't always user-friendly for busy healthcare professionals. This is often due to the messaging capabilities being add-ons. If your platform's messaging looks like AOL Messenger, it might be time to look into a few improvements.
Have you ever texted someone and missed one digit in their phone number, sending it off to someone else completely random? Unfortunately, this mistake is extremely common, and there are many horror stories involving sharing PHI with the wrong person.
The fines quickly add up for HIPAA compliance breaches. A minimum fine of $50,000 can be imposed for each HIPAA violation, along with civil penalties in some cases. The HIPAA Journal provides a detailed article on various penalties; click here to learn more.
Moreover, it doesn’t improve your brand’s reputation or build trust with your patients and their families. Email and SMS are not inherently secure, and information sent through these channels can be intercepted and accessed by unauthorized users. This can result in serious data breaches and compromises patient confidentiality.
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, so does the way that healthcare teams communicate with one another. The need for secure and efficient communication has never been more crucial, especially when it comes to sharing sensitive patient information.
Related article: The HIPAA Privacy Rule
That's where role-based messaging comes into play. In this blog post, we will explore how this specific feature improves communication for healthcare teams, and how Celo's HIPAA-compliant messaging platform makes this possible.
Role-based messaging is a communication strategy that involves sending messages to specific roles within a healthcare team. This means that messages are directed to the appropriate team member based on their role in the patient's care.
The goal of role-based messaging is to improve communication efficiency, reduce errors, and enhance patient outcomes. By directing messages to the appropriate team member, healthcare teams can ensure that everyone is on the same page and that patient care is delivered in a timely and effective manner.
Role-based messaging offers a number of benefits for healthcare teams, including:
Celo is a HIPAA-compliant messaging platform that is specifically designed to support role-based messaging, including the ability to create custom groups based on role or department. Healthcare teams can easily create custom groups based on the roles of their team members.
For example: a group might be created for nurses, another for physicians, and another for support staff. You don’t even need to know who is clocked in at a given moment, just message whoever is on-call through the app. Messages can then be directed to the appropriate group, ensuring that they are received by the correct team members.
In addition to role-based messaging, Celo keeps healthcare data completely secure. Boasting features such as end-to-end encryption, secure media library, and the ability to set message expiration times: HIPAA violations are a thing of the past.
Role-based messaging is an effective communication strategy that helps healthcare teams to enhance trust and reliability; which builds rapport amongst patients.
With a HIPAA-compliant messaging platform like Celo, healthcare teams can ensure that patient information remains secure while also delivering high-quality care that meets the needs of their patients. By adopting role-based messaging, healthcare teams can enhance patient outcomes, reduce liability, and improve the overall quality of care that they deliver.
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