Text Messaging to Communicate With Public Health Audiences: How the HIPAA Security Rule Affects Practice

Information security issues are a serious matter that organizations from all industries have to deal with. The healthcare industry is no exception. Personally identifiable healthcare information automated by the healthcare industry can be stolen, intercepted, altered, and misused. Acceptable safeguards, therefore, have to be in place in order to ensure the privacy and protection of this information. Without governmental intervention however, it seems unlikely that the healthcare industry will voluntarily implement such safeguards. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security rule has emerged and been mandated by Congress from the need of such intervention. The quantitative investigation in this chapter is aimed at determining if covered entities in Washington State are HIPAA security rule ready after two years from the compliance deadline, and if the factors identified through the literature review are a hindrance to HIPAA security rule compliance. This research study revealed that HIPAA Security Rule full compliance is far from achieved; many factors have emerged as impediments to the compliance process, and the way to compliance is complex and costly. Tracking the compliance progress within healthcare institutions in Washington State over the last five years revealed that the reaction to the HIPAA Security Rule was strong around the mandated date; the response after the mandated date, however, has been weak. Covered entities should brace themselves to the new level of enforcement due to the recent American Recovery Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

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An Overview of the HIPAA Security Rule

Optometry - Journal of the American Optometric Association ◽

10.1016/s1529-1839(04)70213-4 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 75 (10) ◽

pp. 654-657 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Keyword(s):

Security Rule ◽

Hipaa Security Rule

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Perception survey of Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication in an acute hospital in the management of COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore

10.21203/rs.3.rs-23558/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Lai Meng Ow Yong ◽

Xiaohui Xin ◽

Jennifer Mei Ling Wee ◽

Ruban S/O Poopalalingam ◽

Kenneth Yung Chiang Kwek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Risk Communication ◽

Work Experience ◽

Text Messaging ◽

Hospital Setting ◽

Hospital Staff ◽

Acute Hospital ◽

Resource Utilisation ◽

Limited Attention ◽

Chi Square

Abstract Background: Emergency risk communication is a critical component in emergency planning and response. It has been recognised as significant for planning for and responding to public health emergencies. While there is a growing body of guidelines and frameworks on emergency risk communication, it remains a relatively new field. There has also been limited attention on how emergency risk communication is being performed in public health organisations, such as acute hospitals, and what the associated challenges are. This article seeks to examine the perception of crisis and emergency risk communication in an acute hospital in response to COVID-19 in Singapore and to identify its associated enablers and barriers. Methods: A 13-item Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication (CERC) Survey, based on the US Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) CERC framework, was developed and administered to hospital staff during February 24-28, 2020. The survey also included an open-ended question to solicit feedback on areas of CERC in need of improvement. Chi-square test was used for analysis of survey data. Thematic analysis was performed on qualitative feedback. Results: Of the 1154 participants who responded to the survey, most (94.1%) reported that regular hospital updates on COVID-19 were understandable and actionable. Many (92.5%) stated that accurate, concise and timely information helped to keep them safe. A majority (92.3%) of them were clear about the hospital’s response to the COVID-19 situation, and 79.4% of the respondents reported that the hospital had been able to understand their challenges and address their concerns. Sociodemographic characteristics such as occupation, age, marital status, work experience, gender, and staff’s primary work location influenced the responses to hospital CERC. Local leaders within the hospital would need support to better communicate and translate hospital updates in response to COVID-19 to actionable plans for their staff. Better communication in executing resource utilisation plans, expressing more empathy and care for their staff, and enhancing communication channels, such as through the use of secure text messaging rather than emails would be important. Conclusions: CERC is relevant and important in the hospital setting to managing COVID-19 and should be considered concurrently with hospital emergency response domains.

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