Feb 01, 2016
Few healthcare organizations restrict the use of messaging apps by employees. This lack of restrictions could pose a risk of violating the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
- More than half of employees say their company does not have an official mobile messaging platform.
- Almost all employees would use a company-wide mobile messaging platform if their employer decided to implement one.
- The most commonly used messaging apps are not HIPAA-compliant.
Only 8% of healthcare institutions prohibit consumer messaging apps for employee communication, which risks potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), according to a recent study conducted by a mobile messaging company.
In addition, only a quarter of healthcare institutions that have an official mobile messaging platform are using an internal, company-authorized app. The rest are recommending or using consumer-oriented messaging apps and services that don’t provide the enterprise-grade security needed to comply with regulations, such as HIPAA, explains Anurag Lal, CEO of Infinite Convergence Solutions, a Chicago-based company that provides messaging technology and conducted the study. (The study results are available online at https://tinyurl.com/hdelajn.)