Healthcare IT News: Docs just want to text, and do it securely

By Bernie Monegain

After two months of beta testing, Imprivata is going to market with a texting app, Imprivata Cortext, that executives say will change the lives of physicians – and their patients. Can a texting app do that?

Yes, says Ed Ricks, CIO of Beaufort Memorial Hospital, a 200-bed community hospital in South Carolina, one of three Cortext beta sites. The free, HIPAA-compliant text messaging solution lets them do what they already do in all other parts of their lives, but, until now, were not allowed to do because of HIPAA rules on protected health information: Texting.