Just 8 percent of healthcare institutions prohibit consumer messaging apps for employee communication, according to a recent study from Chicago-based Infinite Convergence Solutions, Inc.
What's more, only one in four healthcare institutions who have an official mobile messaging platform are using an internal, company-authorized app. The rest are recommending or using consumer-facing messaging apps and services that do not provide the enterprise-grade security needed to comply with regulations, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the research found.
The study, which surveyed 500 professionals across multiple sectors, also found that employees in the healthcare industry use mobile messaging more frequently than voice calling for their business communication, where they most frequently communicate with colleagues. The immediacy of the information employees need to communicate matters most when they are deciding whether to use phone, email or mobile messaging to reach someone.
However, 51 percent of healthcare employees say their company does not have an official mobile messaging platform, despite the fact that 92 percent of these employees would use a company-wide mobile messaging platform if their employer decided to implement one. Sixty-four percent said it would make communication at their job easier, as well.
Of the 49 percent of healthcare employees who say their employer has an official mobile messaging platform, 16 percent say that platform is GChat and 11 percent say it's WhatsApp. What's more, even without an official mobile messaging platform, healthcare institutions recommend employees use consumer mobile messaging apps. None of these messaging apps or services typically follow HIPAA guidelines for messaging security.
"The global healthcare industry is under strict privacy and security regulations to protect patient information, but our study finds that the vast majority of healthcare institutions are not using mobile messaging services that are compliant with these regulations," Anurag Lal, CEO of Infinite Convergence Solutions, said in a press release statement. "Healthcare employees communicate inherently sensitive information, like patient prescriptions, medical information, etc., yet their employers do not have the proper mobile messaging security infrastructure in place to adhere to HIPAA or other regulatory requirements."
