In the United States, healthcare communication is governed by HIPAA — the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The Privacy Rule, a federal law, gives patients the right to privacy when it comes to their personal health information. Because of HIPAA restrictions, communication between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients is fastidiously regulated, and often relegated to telephone calls and clunky phone apps.

In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) is governed by similar privacy laws. A recent Healthcare Report by CommonTime has found that, dissatisfied with antiquated and inconvenient communication channels, NHS staff members have been turning to consumer-oriented instant messaging platforms, like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, to communicate with other staff and patients.

61% of respondents reported that IM enabled improvement in communication speeds which, in turn, has led to higher standards of care. (Source: CommonTime)

Due to a lack of data security, these apps do not adhere to privacy regulations — which is why communicating with patients, storing patient information on mobile devices, and sharing medical documents through instant messaging are just a few examples of prohibited actions. Although using these platforms professionally is prohibited, nearly 1 in 50 NHS staff members have been disciplined for instant messaging-related infractions.

30% of NHS staff believe patient care would suffer if HCPs did not have access to WhatsApp or other consumer messaging tools. (Source: CommonTime)

These instant messaging platforms have the potential to boost efficiency, but at the cost of data security.

It’s this frustration that inspired Clinicoin. Leveraged by a blockchain ecosystem, and powered by Mosio, Clinicoin provides healthcare professionals and patients with a secure messaging platform that is HIPAA healthcare) and 21 CFR 11 (clinical trials) compliant. The open-source wellness app can serve as a centralized “super app” for patients to communicate with all of their healthcare providers in one place. Clinicoin combines the ease of consumer messaging tools with the security of end-to-end encryption to create a compliant platform for HCP/patient communication.

Read the full report here: https://www.commontime.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Report-Instant-Messaging-in-the-NHS.pdf