Nearly everyone texts to communicate. It’s quick, easy, and convenient. However, texting with patients carries professional, legal, and ethical risks, including:

1. Privacy and HIPAA compliance. Standard texting is not secure. Messages can be intercepted, viewed on shared devices, or accidentally sent to the wrong number. Therefore, any patient’s personal health information sent via text risks a HIPAA violation and possible fines.

While most healthcare providers are compassionate and want to provide optimal care to their patients, implicit biases exist. Healthcare providers may not be aware of implicit biases, which may be subtle and unintentional, that can influence clinical interactions, lead to a lack of trust between the patient and the healthcare provider, and result in healthcare disparities.

Measures to Strengthen Cybersecurity in Healthcare under HIPAA

If you missed Part 1 of this article, read it here!

Occasionally, there is good news about compliance and risk. Good news came to every licensed healthcare practitioner in the nation on January 5, 2021, when the HITECH Act was amended with the new HIPAA Safe Harbor Law (HR 7898). This change created safe harbors under the law, but only if acted upon by the healthcare professional to protect themselves and their practice.