As clinical communication and collaboration systems become an integral part of a healthcare team’s daily interaction, it’s natural for organizations to want to do more.
Compliance and security are just a couple of the requirements that are first on the list. Now that clinical communication systems can integrate into existing hospital systems, it is common practice to share patient health information (PHI) in ways that may include a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), electronic health records (EHRs), and physician scheduling systems. With the rise in smartphone use by hospital staff and the increase in shared patient information, healthcare organizations are implementing new record management policies that require them to archive their secure text messages for a host of reasons.
The Importance of Archiving
Examples of why archiving your secure messages is so important:
- A permanent record ensures that no patient information is lost, including information that should have been uploaded into the EHR but wasn’t
- A permanent record may be helpful for litigation purposes
- A permanent record may ensure that users adhere to HR policies in their communications
- A client’s HIPAA-compliance policy might mandate that all documentation is stored for more than 30 days (the maximum length of a TigerText message)
- The text message may be used for transacting business activity (not just patient care) and having a permanent record of business activity may be useful to certain organizations
- Archiving all messages might lower insurance premiums for some insurance providers
With these reasons in mind, adding message archiving to your solution when deploying a clinical communication platform is a sound way to mitigate liability and resolve issues. TigerText recommends that clients use archiving services that include unlimited storage, robust functionality, ease of use, security, and privacy to meet industry regulations.
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