From EHRs to patient portals, healthcare has gone digital and so has communication between its stakeholders.
Here are five things to know about mobile messaging in healthcare, according to the 2015 Infinite Convergence Mobile Messaging for Healthcare Institutions Study Findings Sheet.
1. Though mobile messaging is a popular medium for communication in healthcare, 65 percent of healthcare professionals use email most frequently to connect. Mobile messaging comes in as the second most frequently used form of communication at 22 percent. Finally, 13 percent of respondents still use voice calling as their primary avenue for communication.
2. SMS/MMS is the most popular third-party messaging app in healthcare, with 52 percent of survey respondents using it. Other popular mobile messaging platforms include GChat, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
3. Nearly half of respondents (42 percent) believe most of their business communications are secure in third-party messaging apps, while 20 percent believe their communications are not secure. Just 30 percent believe third-party messaging apps offer complete security.
4. Mobile messaging may be a regular form of communication, but 51 percent of respondents say their organization does not have an official mobile messaging platform. Of this 51 percent, 83 percent say their company does not recommend a mobile messaging platform. For those who say their company does recommend a platform, iMessage and Skype are the most frequently suggested.
5. The majority of respondents (91 percent) use mobile messaging at least a few times per week, while 35 percent regularly use it every day.