Since the enactment of HIPPA, medical providers must ensure that they protect the privacy of their patients’ health information. Medical providers must have policies and procedures in place to ensure that their offices are HIPAA compliant. Communication procedures and cell phones should be addressed in office policy.

Mobile phones can be a problem for medical providers as most mobile phones are available with cameras and the very popular smartphones can also send photos, emails and other documents via unencrypted email and other messages. So what should a provider do to deal with this problem?

One solution for medical providers and facilities is to restrict the use of cell phones and use more secure means of communication. One option is to develop policies that prohibit the use of cell phones on the premises or in areas where sensitive customer information is contained. Along with that, and in order to continue to maintain reliable and efficient communications with providers, the logical response to the problems faced by providers is the use of pagers.

Pagers remain the best method of communicating with medical providers, emergency services, and personnel who have access to sensitive patient information and records. In addition to ensuring confidentiality and HIPPA compliance, pagers are more reliable, do not interfere with medical equipment, and are implicitly reliant, especially in emergency situations where electricity may not be available.

Pagers have been used consistently in emergency and medical settings since the 1950s. The reason pagers have such longevity is the benefits they offer. In today’s environment, pagers make even more sense due to increased scrutiny and HIPAA consequences. Pagers are, by design, more reliable than cell phones because of the way messages are transmitted. In addition, the transmission of messages through pagers is secure, unlike many cell phones.

Pager systems feature high power transmission of up to 3500 watts of effective power, while typical cellular systems are rated at 100 watts. In addition, the simulcast network from which a pager operates provides simultaneous delivery of a radio signal from multiple transmitters, giving a wider coverage area and better building penetration than other technologies. This is an important feature, especially in hospitals and facilities where cell phone signals are not available.

By comparison, cellular-type networks allocate a single channel on a single transmitter to a mobile connection with a smaller range, and then rely on the network to “transfer” the call to another tower, if a channel is available and not overloaded. Paging systems can easily designate priorities and automatically block or limit non-critical users during periods of time when it is imperative that emergency users have access.

Another benefit of using pagers instead of cell phones is reliability. Pagers do not require electricity for functionality because they do not require battery charging as with cell phones. Cell phones will not work without a charged battery and that need is even more pervasive with newer smartphones that have very limited battery life due to the apps that normally run on the phones. Pagers, on the other hand, are powered by standard batteries that have a lifespan of close to a year for most pagers. That, in itself, makes pagers inherently more reliable than cell phones.

The obvious hallmark that cell phones offer is information integrity security. Many facilities where government securities exist do not allow cell phones to protect classified information. With the consequences for medical providers and healthcare facilities for violating HIPAA, this type of security should also figure prominently in the development of plans and policies for healthcare facilities.

Pagers provide comprehensive communication of important and necessary information to providers, staff, and healthcare workers. Pagers are more reliable and reliable, especially in critical and emergency situations. Ultimately, protecting the privacy of information in this high-speed technological age is the responsibility of all providers and facilities. Ironically, the way to provide that protection is to restore a tried and true, safe and reliable means of communication, the pager. Failure to do this leaves the facility and providers exposed to liability and the patient exposed to personal harm with the compromise of confidential information. Pagers should be considered for all medical providers and facilities.