Sending text messages has become a common method of communication among teenagers, adults, and more recently medical professionals. Physicians are discovering that texting provides a quick and efficient way to communicate with colleagues, patients, and office or hospital staff. 

The HIPAA Omnibus Rule marks the most sweeping changes to the HIPAA privacy and security rules since they were first implemented nearly 18 years ago. Under the rule, first-time violations can be up to $50,000 per incident per year and repeat violations can result in a $1.5 million fine.

If your office creates, maintains, receives or transmits electronic protected health information (e-PHI), you are a covered entity and a risk analysis is a mandatory step towards HIPAA compliance. Further, for those offices attempting to meet Meaningful Use requirements, a risk analysis is also required for Meaningful Use compliance.

If your medical group or hospital creates, maintains, receives, or transmits electronic protected health information (e-PHI), a risk analysis is a mandatory step towards HIPAA compliance.

As more and more health care professionals use mobile devices to store and transmit Protected Health Information (PHI), there is now a need to safeguard not only the physical security of the device but also the information stored on it.