In a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in five Americans will be a senior citizen by 2030, nearly double the 12 percent in 2000. Not only are there more seniors, but they are also living longer and experiencing multiple chronic conditions.
While recently visiting a few physician offices where texting is commonplace among physicians and staff, I asked staff whether they were following the HIPAA safeguards for texting. Most often, the answer was met with “Sure, we are HIPAA compliant. No worries here.”
It’s no secret — as humans, we make errors. The problem is that in healthcare, these errors can cause patient harm, including death. In fact, the Journal of Patient Safety asserts that medical errors in the hospital are the third leading cause of death in the United States.