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HIPAA compliance is on every healthcare provider’s radar. As technology advances, so does the encryption protocol surrounding its usage. By encrypting clinical communication, healthcare organizations protect the organization, patients’ protected health information, and more! Secure messaging encryption is an ever-evolving conversation within the health and tech industry: How can technology advance healthcare while maintaining data security?
Cyber threats are on the rise within the healthcare industry. Don’t be alarmed; Amtelco Secure Messages is the cyber security solution that prevents data breaches from happening when sending messages. Amtelco Secure Messages employs single sign-on authentication within the app by integrating with SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language) or ADFs (Active Directory Federation Services) authentication layers to protect healthcare providers from external threats. Encryption obscures your data-at-rest and data-in-transit from potential outside attackers monitoring your communications. Encryption works by taking plaintext data and turning the plaintext into ciphertext. The ciphertext obscures the letters, numbers, and symbols to prevent unwanted attackers from obtaining sensitive data regarding healthcare-protected health information.
Health data is incredibly sensitive as it ties closely with patient’s health and well-being. That is why encryption is all the more critical and needed for the healthcare sphere. According to an article written by Xinran Liu, “Evaluation of Secure Messaging Applications for a Health System: A Case Study.” Liu states the prevalence of SMS texting within the healthcare industry and the impact SMS has made on clinical messaging. However, SMS may not be the answer to clinical messaging. Since SMS isn’t HIPAA-compliant, SMS can inadvertently create clinical communication barriers. As Liu states, “Most text messages are sent without message or transport level encryption through personal mobile devices. Messages on mobile devices are at risk for unauthorized access, use, or disclosure through a variety of methods such as interception, theft, or loss.” (Liu et al., p. 141). Amtelco takes encryption seriously and meticulously developed a HIPAA-compliant clinical messaging application that considers modern clinical messaging and security. Amtelco Secure Messages employs high-level encryption that can assist healthcare providers in sharing protected health information (PHI) in a HIPAA-compliant way. Now, healthcare providers can have both security and fast clinical messaging!
“From a patient safety standpoint, Amtelco Secure Messages has been a very positive change. It plugs a hole in a common communication gap because you have documentation that they did indeed receive your message.”
Jackson-Madison County General Hospital
Amtelco Secure Messages offers these safety features for healthcare providers to elevate their security measures:
- Biometric access technology or unique passcodes
- Encrypted messages are not stored on the device
- Remote disabling if a device is lost or stolen
Sturdy, secure clinical communication is necessary for trust, comprehension, and patient-informed care. Effective clinical communication is also needed to improve patient health outcomes. Bringing another layer of perspective to the complexity and importance of security, the article by Denita Lindsey et al., “When HIPAA hurts: legal barrier to texting may reinforce healthcare disparities and disenfranchise vulnerable patients,” urges the need for awareness of secure clinical communication due to the impact clinical communication has on patient health outcomes.
When healthcare organizations equip an encrypted messaging solution, an open opportunity arises for enhanced information sharing among one another; “Patient privacy is sacrosanct, and health information privacy laws endeavor to protect it; on the other hand, effective health communication and information exchange is indispensable for optimal healthcare” (Lindsey et al., p.2). Amtelco prioritizes pushing for quality patient care to help healthcare organizations achieve better patient care; Amtelco is dedicated to assisting and revolutionizing the healthcare industry with our cutting-edge technology. Healthcare needs efficient clinical communication, which is why Amtelco Secure Messages fits in the picture to close the clinical communication gap—enabling a secure way of sharing protected health information (PHI) with one another and allowing one another to make accurate and well-informed decisions to enhance patient care delivery. Amtelco offers a variety of product integrations to personalize the clinical workflows of each healthcare organization.
Given these points, encryption is paramount to a robust clinical communication process. Not only will encryption enable healthcare providers to share PHIs, but it will also protect health data and ultimately protect patients. The article highlights many clinical communication pain points. Healthcare providers must equip themselves with a secure messaging solution to combat these pain points and provide better patient care by protecting health data.
