Secure messages between practice, patients and referrers. What the law requires, what is technically possible, and what WhatsApp has lost in the consulting room.
4 articles
Messages are the fastest way to settle a question, and the shortest route to a breach of professional secrecy. What the law requires of a messenger in a practice, and how to tell whether a service meets it.
That WhatsApp has no place in the consulting room is quickly explained. The harder question comes next: how does a team that has communicated this way for years actually get off it?
There is no honest urgent answer to "why now". There is, however, a calculation, and it can be drawn up in a week.
Email is convenient, available everywhere, and the wrong route for health data. Not because of a rule, but because of three properties built into the protocol itself.
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