Is there a secure private messaging app that allows health care professionals to send private text and collaborate with key care teams using their personal mobile device? Yes, there are HIPAA-compliant, secure text messaging apps and service providers who  permit real time collaborations over a secure network through delivery of fast and accurate private text messages.
However, under government laws, ordinary messaging apps and email are not recognized as secure messaging methods. That is considering that Federal laws mandate the security of identifiable patient information under the HIPAA law.

What exactly is the HIPAA
HIPAA stands for the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. This law was enacted to put in place rules that primarily institutes measure to protect and uphold the integrity, credibility and security sThe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) is a federal law that puts in place rules about “who can look at, receive, and use patients’ health information as well as measures that protect the confidentiality, integrity and security of an individual’s health-related information. .Consistency, can be a struggle if using a non HIPAA Compliant mobile phone while

HIPAA Compliance application and stethoscope on a desk.

HIPAA violations can be common. Some hospitals don’t have a set of policies, standard policy and administrative guidelines to govern messaging services and the smartphones that healthcare professionals use in communicating with hospital staff and patients.
In more complex cases, hospital workers have to deal with facilities and professionals using mobile devices that do not have an extra layer of security to ensure medical information protection.

Additional Security to Strengthen Protection of Data When Using Private Messaging Apps

Not a few medical clinicians are unaware of exchanging protected health information in the likes of medical prescriptions, test results and images, which a mobile app used by an average consumer is not HIPAA compliant. Medical professionals should raise awareness about security features that can improve the protection of medical data as the subject of mobile phone communication.
End-to-end encryption of text messages. The message becomes unintelligible to unauthorised readers as words are replaced with ciphertext; making the content appear gibberish to prying eyes.
Self-destructing notes involves the creation of a note containing the private and confidential message that the intended recipient can view by accessing a link provided by the creator-sender, once the recipient clicked on the link and read the content the note, together with the link will self-destruct.
Multi password and one-time password authentication. The account user can complete a transaction by using his password more than once, usually to confirm a financial transaction. In addition he will have to input a one time password to authenticate the procedure being undertaken.

Use of the instagram Clipboard enables Social Media Marketers to shape a client’s content in the fastest and most effective ways possible. The instagram Clipboard is a tool that functions in ways that allow a content creator to copy and paste an image directly from a web browser to an Instagram account. Creating a shortcut which previously required users to download an image in the internal gallery of their smartphone before they can copy and paste it on an IG content. That is no longer the case with the advent of the Instagram Clipboard technology.

The Instagram app now allows a smartphone to copy and store an image taken from the web in the Clipboard. Creators can then complete the image requirement of a content, using the image stored in the Instagram Clipboard. Count on Instagram to add tools and features that make it easy for users to publish their content wherever they are and at any time of the day.

Instagram is currently in demand as a social media platform that could best carry out marketing and advertising plans. Its focus on visually appealing images is the main reason why many consumers are searching for products via Instagram.

How Social Media Affected Public Health Through the Years

Social media has come a long way in making it possible for people to communicate; or to simply connect with others through social media content. Global social media connections have allowed families, entities, communities and industries to extend their reach in spreading information. The vast network of institutions and organisations have mobilised large numbers of people to facilitate progress in achieving public health goals. Since 2013, social media has played an important role in bringing public health care advocacies and education to address healthcare issues.

While social media is now recognized as an integral part of people’s lives, it has also drawn attention as a social problem itself. Aside from being addictive, social media has affected the way we consume media and share information.
While it is true that social platforms helped bring forth many positive changes, it also allowed the spread of negative and toxic behaviours and the flourishing of misinformation, discrimination and cyberbullying.

In 2015, a review of the different social media platforms revealed the negative effects they created, particularly among Instagram users. Apparently, use of the appearance-focused site led to
Inclinations of associating popularity with physically attractive images. The outlook heightened the desire to alter physical features by way of cosmetic surgery. Adolescents became vulnerable to the adverse effects of social media addiction. Today, the findings about the negative effects of social media became even more conclusive as many cases have led to eating disorders, infliction of self-harm, depression and suicide; often times as a result of cyberbullying.

The general consensus is that while Instagram and other social media platforms help industries in effectively promoting their products and services, further research must be conducted to come up with solutions on how to curtail the negative effects of social media.