However, text messaging has become hugely popular, including among healthcare professionals. In addition, Stage 2 of the Meaningful Use incentive program for electronic health records requires healthcare providers to offer secure messaging, either through a web portal or some other means, to at least half of their patients. Generally, standard SMS is not secure enough under HIPAA for communicating PHI. "All of are required to manage protected health information," she says. "We aren't making an assumption that one size fits all."īoth products are available for either healthcare systems or physician offices, according to Thompson. "I think the overall intent is that we’ve got a range of secure messaging solutions," Thompson tells MobiHealthNews. Julee Thompson, Sprint's chief healthcare executive, calls the former a less-expensive option for clients who just want to support internal text messaging between clinicians. The other, TigerText Pro, works across platforms and carriers.
This product is mobile operator-specific, only available for Sprint customers, the telecommunications firm says. The basic service, called Sprint Enterprise Messenger – Secure is provided by TeleMessage, an Israeli company that builds secure mobile messaging technology. Mobile operator Sprint Nextel has teamed up with TigerText, a privately held, Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of secure text messaging services, to offer two texting products for healthcare enterprises that safeguard protected health information to HIPAA standards.