Secure Texting Without an App Expedites Patient Care in Nurse Triage

For those practices looking for ways to improve their nurse-doctor communications, having a secure texting feature can be an invaluable — and often lifesaving — resource. However, the constant download of new apps can make it difficult to manage that communication with multiple doctors. TriageLogic has developed a process for a nurse to securely chat with a doctor without the need to download an app or additional software, saving time and ensuring all doctors can view their messages. According to Becker’s Hospital Review, last year’s reported sentinel events were the highest they’ve been since 2005, often attributed to delayed care. What’s causing those delays, and how can secure chat help?

The Cause of Delayed Care

The traditional means for nurses to get in touch with doctors regarding their patients is to page them with callback numbers. But this arrangement can be problematic. Becker’s notes in the article above that delayed care was often the result of errors in communication.

This can happen for a few reasons. It can be time-consuming for doctors to respond to pages, they may not successfully receive them, and they have no way of knowing how urgent each one may be.

TriageLogic offers its own secure texting service that addresses each of these concerns: (1) It consolidates the information a doctor needs to know and gives them the ability to read it immediately. (2) It conveys the urgency of each patient’s symptoms. (3) It gives a nurse confirmation when a doctor has received and viewed their message.

How Secure Texting Helps

TriageLogic’s secure texting is a HIPAA-compliant module that allows nurses to chat with doctors without the need to download an app or additional software. It’s all accessible through browser encryption, which means a nurse can input patient information and transmit it to a doctor’s phone securely. All the doctor receives is a link, which they have to click and acknowledge before they can access the patient’s profile. Once they do, secure texting notifies the nurse who messaged them that their information was received. This ensures patient confidentiality, and allows doctors to address each patient’s concerns in a timely manner — even when those doctors are out of the office or in an area where voice calls are difficult.

Most importantly, all communications in secure texting can be logged in nurse triage software, ensuring proper documentation, liability protection, and continuity of care.

Additional Benefits

Because secure texting doesn’t depend on an app, there’s no installation to worry about, and your doctors don’t need to make any changes to their process when and if they’re given new phones. Similarly, no support, updates, or registration is required like with most software. Your team can become acquainted with the system and ready to use it in roughly five minutes.

BYOD and Cybersecurity

It’s important to note that many healthcare practices are taking advantage of the policy known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Your organization may already offer this as a way to reduce IT costs. That said, the most important factor to keep in mind when it comes to any piece of technology is how well it can be protected against malware and bad actors looking to exploit your data. That’s why you should include policies that address data security if you decide to use BYOD, along with other areas in your cyber defense.

Secure texting adds a layer of digital protection so that your team members remain compliant. The fact that it isn’t an app also eliminates a potential risk vector for accessing your network. Our module runs off of secure servers, which we regularly test as part of SOC 2 Type 2 certification.

Establish Your Own Secure Texting

We’d be happy to share a demo with you on how secure texting can be a convenient, effective, and affordable solution for your nurse triage and patient care. When you’re ready, let’s schedule some time for a discussion.