A common scenario we run into at hospitals is: “I introduced a secure texting solution to my clinicians a few months ago but the usage rate is really low. How can I get them to start adopting this”?

To be more specific, one anecdote I heard recently was from a hospital that obtained 700 copies of a secure texting-only product and deployed the app to their clinicians. The plan was that the app would be used in place of SMS for clinicians to securely text with one another, thus protecting PHI and indemnifying the hospital from any HIPAA violations. Two months after the app was introduced, the usage logs showed that only 20 of the potential 700 clinicians were using the app. What happened? Why was this potential solution so poorly adopted?

The answers all stemmed from the app’s real value to the clinicians. The lesson learned here is that technology that does not actually enhance the users’ abilities is doomed.  In this instance:

  1. Secure texting is a feature, not a product. Without a clinical/patient context, this app was not adding any value for the clinician.
  2. Forcing clinicians to use new technology is never easy, but making them use an app that does not provide them with an obvious benefit is even harder.
  3. Standalone applications that do not utilize existing clinical data are a tough sell to clinicians. By adding another piece of technology that does not reduce the user’s already complex world, you are asking way too much.

So, this hospital has now gone back to the drawing board and is evaluating full clinical communications platforms. Their experience has led them to look for a solution that makes the patient context the center of all communications, delivers clinical information directly to the smartphone and can be integrated with other clinical apps to form what they refer to as a “app set” for each type of clinical user (i.e. a different set of apps for hospitalists than for nurses) with communications capabilities at the core.

Fortunately, the hospital will be able to repurpose their smartphones and did not forfeit much cash. Going forward, they’ve learned a major lesson – keep the clinician’s needs foremost in clinical communications.