Joint Commission Says Traditional SMS Texting is Non HIPAA Compliant for Medical Providers
This is important information for our Medical clients. We wanted to provide you with more detail regarding messaging and HIPAA compliance. Special thanks goes out to our fellow Association of Tele Services International (ATSI) colleague, Joann Fussell for once again bringing light to this issue.
The Joint Commission has banned medical professionals from using traditional SMS Text for any communication that contains ePHI data. A single violation for any unsecured message containing PHI will result in fines starting at $50,000. Repeated violations can lead up to $1.5M in fines within a single year. The long term effect of these violations will have a negative impact on your ability to retain and attract new patients.
A recent case shows that a fine was levied in the amount of $50,000 to a medical provider. The provider was required to “implement security measures sufficient to reduce ePHI risks and vulnerabilities to a reasonable and appropriate level in terms of using text messaging to, from or stored on a portable device.”
HIPAA Compliant Secure Interactive Messaging
As a leader in the industry, Direct Line provides Secure Interactive Messaging that ensures ePHI data is relayed in a HIPAA compliant manner. Contact us today at either 888-365-2424 to learn more about our Secure Interactive Messaging service.
