2017 Winter

The Joint Commission recently authorized use of secure clinical texting to issue patient care orders and subsequently postponed final recommendations until late 2016. Potential sole or exclusive use of clinical texts to transmit care orders/information that could be delayed because of carrier-dependent transmission latency raises concern. Although texting in routine patient care may deliver high value to clinicians, the risk of latency and delayed receipt of clinically urgent or time-sensitive texted patient orders/information in high-acuity care settings can harm patients. We completed a review of 19 secure clinical text vendor websites, finding that 16 of 19 (84 percent) market their products for use specifically in high-acuity and critical patient care.