You have a message you urgently need to send to a coworker but you're in the office and they're gone. You can't call them because they're in surgery or an important meeting but you need to get them a message. What do you do?
Now, with iPlum web texting, you can send a text message from your computer to a phone using HIPAA-compliant secured texting. Imagine being able to communicate with everyone in your office regardless if they're available on their phone or computer. The future is now and your next message doesn't have to wait for the right time, device, or availability.
Table of Contents
2. Secured HIPAA Texting Features
3. Advantages of Text Messaging in Healthcare
4. Risks of Text Messaging in Healthcare
5. Best Practices for Texting Within Your Office
6. Top Tips for Texting Patients
7. Level Up Your Text Messages With Web Texting
What Is iPlum Web Texting?
Medical facilities and doctors' offices across North America love using iPlum's app on their phones and mobile devices. Now, you can access all your contacts, messages, and phone trees from any web browser. Securely and seamlessly receive, respond, and save voice and text messages from your computer at work or on the go.
Two-way communication across devices is a requirement these days. You and your staff must remain connected with each other as well as with your patients. Web texting offers you this convenience, but with iPlum web texting you know you're getting convenience within a secured, encrypted, HIPAA-compliant platform.
Texting using the web portal along with the iPlum app will allow you and your team the flexibility and security you need to run a successful practice. iPlum stands on our strong reputation for using the most secure and highly encrypted channels available. All of our features meet the strictest HIPAA standards and our web portal is no different.
You can trust that your messages with your staff as well as with your patients remain private and protected. But you don't need to stay chained to your mobile phone all day. Instead, harness the power of your laptop and access all your favorite features on the web portal using any web browser.
Secured HIPAA Texting Features
On the secured iPlum platform you'll have access to many features which will improve your workflow and communication. Whether you're texting an individual patient or your entire office staff, the texting features within iPlum will fit all your needs.
1. Option to Send Text to Email
Sometimes checking your text messages on your phone isn't convenient. You don't want to look rude in a meeting checking your phone but your staff needs to send you a message.
With the option to send your text messages to your email, you can quickly and conveniently receive and respond to messages on your laptop. You can also receive voicemail transcriptions directly to your text messages or email. This allows your staff to contact you regardless of where you are or what you're doing.
2. One-To-One or Group Texts
Sometimes you need to send an individual message to a patient. Other times you need to check in with your entire staff such as during a natural disaster or other emergent situation. With iPlum you can send both individual and group texts with ease.
With features such as phone trees and pre-set groups you'll never have to worry about forgetting someone and inadvertently leaving anyone out of an important message. These features allow you to handle any situation quickly and calmly to avoid unnecessary stress.
3. Broadcast Messages
With broadcast messages you can send the same message to a large group without looking like a group text or worrying about annoying group chat replies to everyone. Simply send a broadcast to a large but segmented portion of your patient list and send convenient, timely, and relevant information directly to their cell phones.
4. Auto-Text Reply
Your patients want to send you messages regarding their latest symptoms or concerns. But you can't be available to them around the clock. With automatic replies, your patients will know that you've received their text and will reply in the next business day during your normal business hours.
5. Manage Contacts and Messages Using Both the App and the Portal
Now you can safely and securely manage all your contacts and messages from anywhere and any device. Use your phone when that is convenient. But you can also access the web portal from your laptop or home computer so you can stay in the know wherever you are.
Advantages of Text Messaging in Healthcare
Text messages have a 98% open rate and 60% of those are read within the first five minutes of the text being sent. It's simple, your patients want to hear from you through text rather than trying to connect on the phone. Your patients are far more likely to read and reply to your text message versus calling back during normal business hours when they're also busy and working.
Simple reminders for appointments can reduce your no-shows and increase your revenue immediately. But your text messages can go far beyond simple reminders. You can improve your patient education by sending reminders to eat healthy, exercise, or make their next follow-up appointment.
Paper-based and verbal communication are both costly and time-consuming. But with text messaging, you can save time and improve efficiency throughout your office. Your staff will appreciate getting their work done faster and will find it easier to reply to patient's messages on their computers rather than over the phone.
Patient retention and engagement are crucial for continued success in today's medical world. You can't afford to lose contact with any of your patients. Stay in front of them with timely and relevant messages they can use and will want to stay connected with your office and services.
Risks of Text Messaging in Healthcare
Mobile messaging has changed the way the world stays connected. But you also need to ensure you keep your patient's private health information safe and secure. Using an app such as iPlum with strong encryption gives you the peace of mind you need to stay connected without sacrificing security.
Without the proper end-to-end encryption, your text messages could get intercepted and end up in the wrong hands. Your patients need to be able to trust you with their personal information. And that's why you need to use only the best platforms and secure software programs when running your medical practice.
All texts sent on the iPlum portal and app are secure and HIPAA compliant. HIPAA laws require you to do an annual risk assessment for compliance. Take this time each year to delve into your current standard operating procedures.
As you complete your annual risk assessment, embrace the opportunities to provide additional training to your staff members. Remember that there are several best practices for texting within your office and with your patients. Educating yourself on both levels will ensure compliance with HIPAA standards.
Best Practices for Texting Within Your Office
Your staff will love that they don't need to worry about carrying a second phone for work. With the iPlum app, they can access all their work messages on the phone they already own. Additionally, the web platform is easy to use whether they're in the office or on the go with their laptops.
While messaging on several devices can improve productivity and response times, you also need to ensure the utmost privacy for your patients and their personal health information. That's where iPlum's top-of-the-line enterprise security controls give peace of mind as your staff begins to incorporate the benefits of technology into their workflow.
Here are some more ideas your staff can adopt as they integrate their best practices with mobile messaging.
Use Standard Abbreviations
Your staff needs to be able to convey important and urgent messages to you regardless of where you are. Train your staff to know, understand, and use standard abbreviations such as patient initials rather than their full name. You can also shorten key phrases such as "follow up appointment" can be FU appt.
An example might look like "Test results back for pt I.M. HCG level is 30. FU appt scheduled for 03/10."
With a message like this you never have to worry about someone looking over your shoulder and accidentally seeing sensitive, private health information regarding your patients. And you never have to worry about finding out about urgent results too late.
Diversify Your Devices
The next time you're in a meeting and don't want to keep checking your phone for text messages, you'll appreciate iPlum's intuitive text-to-email features. Quickly see and reply to messages from your office staff directly on your laptop without continually looking at your phone.
Additionally, your office staff can quickly reply to patient's concerns and questions from their work computer. The web portal offers both convenience and efficiency all within the secured and encrypted platform you've come to trust from iPlum.
Top Tips for Texting Patients
What happens when your patients leave your office? They go back to their busy lives and sometimes their health can fall onto the back burner. You try to stay in contact with them but paying your staff to call all your patients isn't a worthwhile use of their time or your budget.
Mobile messaging offers you a convenient way to stay in contact with your patients without requiring your staff to make painstaking phone calls after phone calls. Instead, empower your staff to be able to reach your patients through the convenience of texting.
If you're not sure how to stay in contact with your patients via texting, here are four simple tips you can implement right away.
1. Increase ROI With Group Messages
How many times do you find that past patients fall away due to a lack of communication? With group text messages you can stay in front of your patients while also offering key tips and useful information.
Send healthy campaign messages such as encouragement to quit smoking or take up exercising. You can also feature local events such as farmers' markets while explaining the importance of fresh fruits and vegetables to your patients.
2. Increase Efficiency While Maintaining Professionalism
Oftentimes your staff sends similar messages to your patients regarding upcoming appointments or test results. You can increase their productivity by using iPlum's text template features.
It's so simple to use the built-in templates framework for many different standard messages your staff sends regularly. You can create several different templates to cover all your basic needs such as appointment reminders, business hours and locations, or contact information.
3. Brand Your Messages
When was the last time you received a text from a number you didn't recognize? What did you do? You likely either replied asking who they were or deleted the message.
But with a custom signature, your patients can trust that the message is from you or your office. iPlum offers the ability to create an automated and custom text signature that is added to the end of every message you send your clients. This offers uniform branding and trust for your patients each time they receive a message from you or your office.
4. Ensure Prompt Replies
Many times your patients reach out to you and your office outside of regular business hours. Now, with automatic text replies your patients can rest assured that you got their message and will reply during normal business hours.
You don't need to worry about checking your iPlum app during the weekends or even keeping it open. The system will automatically send your set reply to every message received during the timeframe you choose.
Level Up Your Text Messages With Web Texting
With the power, convenience, and security of iPlum web texting you'll be able to offer your patients the level of care they expect and deserve in today's busy and connected society.
You don't have time to worry about which device you can access your patient information on or how you'll reach your office staff. With iPlum web texting you can stay connected from anywhere and with any device. You don't have to be limited to your small phone screen, you and your staff are busy, and using the web portal will increase productivity and connectivity.
Whether you're a new or existing iPlum user, if you're ready to see how web texting can benefit your practice then contact us today.
