Dive Brief:
- A new study published in the journal Telemedicine and e-Health concluded that 61% of pediatricians in the US have received work related text messages on their personal phones, and that 60% have sent such texts.
- Of the pediatricians surveyed, 28% preferred text messages as a method of communication for short conversations. 47% of survey respondents said that they felt pagers are becoming obsolete.
- Professional texting use extends to off-hours as well: 53% of respondents said they had sent text messages about work-related matters when they were not on duty.
Dive Insight:
While the use of texting for work-related matters is prevalent among pediatricians, they are aware of the potential for HIPAA problems. 46% of of survey respondents said they had worries about protecting patient privacy when using text messages to communicate. That's not surprising given that 30% of respondents said they had received protected health information via text message. This is clearly an emerging problem for health leaders to consider, as the potential for HIPAA violations is significant, experts note.