On the surface, secure communications platforms for coordinated care appear to be same. In actuality, there are many features and safeguards that only the most advanced platforms support.

INTEGRATING PAGERS WITH HEALTHCARE COMMUNICATION PLATFORMS

Pagers are the most commonly used channel for contacting physicians in emergency situations for most health systems. Secure healthcare communication platforms that replicate the functionality of one-way and two-way pagers and deliver messages from the same network pagers’ traditionally use allow clinicians to monitor communication across all of the platform-supported communication delivery channels from a centralized mobile app. On the backend, the platform assigns a numeric paging access number to mobile app users to ensure that there are no breaks in communication between those who prefer to communicate via paging and HIPAA secure texting.

PROVIDING A DYNAMIC HIPAA SECURE TEXTING FEATURE SET

HIPAA secure texting accelerates patient admission, treatment and discharge timing by improving the flow and speed of communication between clinicians working from hospitals, practices, skilled nursing facilities or even their homes. Image and video sharing is commonly preferred by ED and ICU clinicians communicating with specialists and surgeons. For this reason, top rated healthcare communication platforms’ generally support at the very least support picture messaging at the very least. Support for video messaging often depends on the network bandwidth and server storage constraints of health systems.

In alignment with patient-centric care coordination objectives, best in class healthcare communication platforms enable bidirectional group text messaging. Using platform-connected mobile apps, clinicians are able to create custom user groups, from which everyone in the group can send and receive group replies or individual direct messages. Physicians, nurses and other clinical staff are, thus, able to coordinate care within a single communication thread.

INTEGRATING VOIP INTO CLINICAL COMMUNICATION APPS

Healthcare communications platforms with VOIP capabilities enable clinicians to seamlessly switch between app functions, and place calls without having to exit the platform’s secure mobile ecosystem. On the backend, these platforms integrate with directories containing the office and mobile numbers of all in-network clinical staff. In order to prevent breaks in communication, leading platforms automatedly assign call back numbers to users who make VOIP calls from within the app. Clinicians are able to identify the person or office they want to call, and place calls in a limited number of clicks, providing an optimal user experience.

IT teams benefit from healthcare communications platforms that integrate with VOIP systems already being utilized. Delivering a seamless transition and onboarding experience to IT teams is equally as important as providing a high quality product to clinician users.

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

The communication delivery channels supported by secure healthcare communication platforms must work together seamlessly in order to minimize instances of fragmented communication, and maximize performance improvements. There often are moments when clinicians may prefer to make a phone call instead of sending a text and vice versa. A doctor may choose to explain instructions or answer questions in a voice call in order to avoid sending a lengthy text. A remote care nurse may choose to phone a doctor’s office or page a physician after realizing that her text message hasn’t been read. Clinicians must ultimately be able to communicate and collaborate when, where and how they need to from without the urge to resort to their smartphone’s native, unsecured apps. By bringing HIPAA secure text, VOIP, email and pager communication systems to a single HIPAA secure mobile app, these platforms simplify clinical communication procedures. Secure communication platforms that have robust data systems integration further support care delivery improvements, allowing clinicians to access, edit, share and discuss critical patient information from a single platform-connected mobile app. Compared to point solutions, these also reduce the burden of systems management for IT teams.