5 Steps for Successful HIPAA Compliant Secure Texting in Healthcare

You’ve been leading the charge toward HIPAA-compliant secure texting. Now is the time to plan the steps for a successful implementation. To help you do this, we’ve come up with our top 5 tips to keep you on the track to success.

1. Identify Your Goals

‍There are many benefits to secure texting, but what are the primary objectives of your organization? Do you want to implement secure texting for security compliance reasons? Are you trying to improve communication or reduce costs? Identify your goals and clearly outline them in writing as the first part of your strategy. To find out more about how secure texting can benefit your organization.

2. Get Your Organization Onboard

Before you can implement secure texting, you will need to make sure it will work for your entire organization. Bring together a small team of decision makers from different departments to validate the solutions from several perspectives. Taking the time at the start of your project to get the right people on board is the best way to ensure an on-time and successful implementation. Some questions you may want to ask everyone could include:

• Will you need to restrict access to any specific users or groups?
• Should the solution be purely mobile? Or a mobile with a desktop interface as well?
• Should it be rolled out in small groups or organization-wide?
• Which group/team should be my test unit or pilot?

3. Communicate Your Policies

Your secure texting policy should cover:

• All messaging needs to be secure (text, images, files, etc. all need to be transmitted to the secure platform – no SMS texting for organization use).
• The types of messages that are allowed/not allowed over the secure platform.
• All messages on the secure platform are the property of the organization and as such can be accessed, read, deleted or otherwise used by the organization.
• Whether your organization allows the use of personal devices (“bring your own device” or BYOD) or will supply devices to those who need it – and additional policies around that.
• If BYOD is allowed, what devices are approved or excluded? Is any operating system or additional security downloads required?
• When and how to report a lost or stolen device (so that remote lock & wipe can be activated).
• How long messages will be retained on devices and in the system? How to retrieve an older message if needed.

Also Read: SMS vs Secure Texting in healthcare What's Safer?

4. Supercharge Your Implementation Plan

Texting is personal; it’s social, and everyone will be talking about it. So, make sure the rollout of secure texting is successful by super-charging your implementation plan.

Pick a date: It is highly important that you choose a date, communicate it and stick to it. Once people understand “what” and “why” their next question will be “when.”

Consider whether to roll out group-by-group or organization-wide. It’s best to first complete a “pilot” rollout to one small group as a learning experience. Then proceed with either a phased or organization-wide implementation.

Find your super-users: Every organization has “super-users” – people who adopt new technology more quickly or use it more frequently or comprehensively than others. Figuring out how to tap into that natural resource can make your rollout more smooth and fruitful. Get your super-users online first and use their feedback to improve your training plan. Plus, enlist their help during rollout – either directly as trainers or indirectly as early adopters and influencers.

Communicate before, during and after: The single biggest mistake organizations make in rolling out their securing texting solution is starting the communication process too late. The earlier you let people in one your plans, the better.

5. Connect With External Organizations

Chances are, you are not the only healthcare organization in town using secure text messaging for healthcare. Users from your organization probably need to communicate with people in those other practices, testing centers, and hospitals. With QliqSOFT, your entire healthcare community can be connected. The messages are secure, HIPAA compliant and adhere to the policies and procedures of the user’s organizations. The ability to communicate across groups can enhance adoption rates for both organizations by allowing users to do more with their messaging solution. Keep these five best practices in mind as you plan your rollout. Along the way, don’t forget one of your best resources for a successful launch is your secure texting provider. QliqSOFT is here to help every step of the way to ensure a smooth implementation.