Gone should be the days of faxing orders back and forth between physician’s offices and nursing homes. Even verbal telephone orders can become a thing of the past as healthcare providers implement the means to send and receive physician orders via text message pursuant to the Joint Commission’s new guidance. In the May 2016 edition of its official newsletter, The Joint Commission, the largest healthcare accreditation body in the United States, announced that it would allow physicians to send patient orders by text message, as long as adequate security and verification measures were in place. Given the fact that there are already several secure text messaging solutions focused on the healthcare industry, this means that long-term care providers can quickly implement physician order texting policies and procedures.

Why implement a text messaging platform for orders? Texting has become a preferred communication method for our modern society, and this especially rings true for doctors, whose time is limited and for whom clarity and brevity in communication are key. Recent studies have shown that a vast majority of physicians already use smartphones, and an increasing number are using mobile technology to provide patient care. Nurses in skilled nursing facilities can text the medical director and obtain lab, nutrition, transfer, discharge, or medication orders quickly and efficiently, even when the physician is not near a computer to place an order or in a place where he or she can speak on the phone. This will be a huge time-saver. Text messaging in healthcare has already proven to improve outcomes when communicating with patients. Long term care providers can now enjoy these benefits.

Physicians, however, cannot simply use the native SMS app on their cell phone to send and receive orders and other information regarding patients. Instead, the providers must use a secure text messaging platform that includes the following:

• Secure sign-on process;
• Encrypted messaging;
• Delivery and read receipts;
• Date and time stamp;
• Customized message retention time frames; and
• Specified contact list for individuals authorized to receive and record orders.

Prior to receiving physician orders via text, providers should develop and implement text messaging policies and procedures, including specifying how orders will be dated, timed, confirmed, and authenticated, and how the texted order will be integrated into the patient’s electronic health record. The Joint Commission also recommends that providers:

• Develop an attestation documenting the capabilities of their secure text messaging platform;
• Define when text orders are or are not appropriate;
• Monitor how frequently texting is used for orders;
• Assess compliance with texting policies and procedures;
• Develop a risk-management strategy and perform a risk assessment; and
• Conduct training for staff, licensed independent practitioners, and other practitioners on applicable policies and procedures.

AGG attorneys have experience in advising healthcare providers and health IT companies on these issues. For more information about choosing a secure text messaging solution and developing appropriate policies and procedures for texting orders in the long-term care or other healthcare environment based on the Joint Commission’s new guidance, please contact Sean Sullivan.

To review the entire document and formatting for this alert (e.g., footnotes), please access the original below: