TigertText has revealed the launch of two new communication solutions for healthcare providers. The two new devices have clear potential, and could convince many healthcare providers to start replacing pagers and faxes.
The new products, named TigerPage & TigerFax, are targeted at healthcare providers that would like to move to a more secure, HIPAA-compliant method of communication but who are slow to give up the communication tools they have relied on for decades.
Instead of totally replacing pagers and faxes, the new solutions allow them to remain in use. If fact, the speed and efficiency that pages and faxes can be received and responded to is greatly enhanced. Rather than carrying around a pager and a Smartphone, healthcare employees can have pages and faxes sent directly to their Smartphone.
Healthcare Providers Reluctant to Give Up the Pager
Pagers and faxes have been an pivotal communication medium for the healthcare industry for decades, yet despite reliable, HIPAA-compliant communication systems being on the market for some time, healthcare providers are still relying on these outdated tools. Even at the start of 2016, thousands of healthcare providers are still carrying pagers and using faxes to communicate. Some 2 million pagers are still utilized in the healthcare industry.
Unfortunately, the pace of change in the healthcare sector is slow. There may be a clear need for progress, but any new technological upgrade that impacts workflows can take a long time to being in. Many healthcare systems are still not ready to fully change over to Smartphones and prefer to keep the communication methods that have served them well for decades, in spite of their numerous faults and annoyances. According to TigerText CEO and Co-Founder Brad Brooks, “These outdated tools slow the delivery of patient care and cost organizations billions of dollars in lost productivity each year”.
The new devices have been developed to make it easier for healthcare providers to update their communication mediums. Smartphones (and other devices) can be used to receive pages and faxes with no need for healthcare workers to compromise their own privacy. A separate pager number is given for each worker. Changing over to the new system has been made as effortless as possible, essentially requiring only a change of pager number.
A healthcare organization can submit a request for “pager numbers” from TigerText for all healthcare employees, and voice messages can be left together with a call back number. Both are delivered to the personal TigerText inboxes of users, which can be accessed via a Smartphone, or any device such as a laptop, desktop, or tablet via TigerText Anywhere. TigerPage also issues sent, delivery, and read receipts, eliminating phone tag in order to confirm pager messages have been received.
Mersadies Wright, Vascular Access Manager at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, WA stated, “With TigerPage, our communications with floor staff have significantly improved since they can leave their callback number or a voice message, and they can provide patient information in a secure environment.” Using just the one comminication device can certainly make communication much easier.
TigerText believes that TigerFax allows faxes to be sent to any healthcare worker regardless of where they are. Faxes are transmitted to the TigerText app from where they can be securely accessed, while also incorporating read and delivery receipt functionality. TigerFax also supports a wide range of file formats such as PDF, JPEG, GIF as well as plain text.
All transmitted communications are encrypted and authentication controls have been incorporated to ensure only the specified recipient is able to access messages, pages and faxes, in full adherence with the HIPAA Security Rule.
The use of mobile communication devices in healthcare has potential to improve productivity and efficiency, but they can also increase the danger of a data breach. Before introducing any new device it is essential that a full risk assessment is completed to assess for any potential vulnerabilities that could open the door to hackers.
