Use a Messaging App Safe for Healthcare Conversations

Don't accidentally give away your loved one's right to data privacy by using unsafe messaging apps. #caregiving #family. Learn more: http://care3.co/blog/hzFv8y.

5 Reasons You MUST Use Messaging Apps Secure for Healthcare Conversations

By David Williams, Co-Founder & CEO, Care3.

I admit it. As a caregiver for my mother for ten years, I didn’t worry about the security and privacy of her health information. In fact, I’ve spoken to hundreds of families caring for aging parents or special needs children. Never has ANYONE expressed the urgency to protect their loved ones’ health information.

And why should they? The focus has to be on the care delivered. We as caregivers have to keep our loved ones well, nurse them back to health, get them better, right? We don’t have time to think about every piece of information that we share with family members and how we share it. We can barely get through our own lives, with jobs, family, and other responsibilities. Thinking about information management is yet another thing—and sounds exhausting!

Unintended Consequences

But here’s the thing: disregarding the privacy and security of health information may actually have negative, unintended consequences. That is why it is so important to be careful how you share health information using mobile devices and apps.

Messaging is the #1 function used on mobile devices. We all know how to send texts, pictures, and other media using the popular messaging apps like iMessage, SMS, Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp just to name a few. But all of these apps have one MAJOR flaw:

NONE of them are safe or secure for healthcare conversations.

Wait, what? What does “secure for healthcare conversations” mean? How can these apps not be safe? The biggest names in technology are behind these apps: Apple, Google, Facebook. Don’t they know this?

Yes, in fact they do. It’s a conscious choice for them NOT to be secure for healthcare conversations.

What it means to be secure for healthcare conversations.

The US government has privacy standards for healthcare information transmission, transfer, and storage to protect patients’ personal health information (PHI). You may have heard of “HIPAA”, also known as “The Privacy Rule.”

The Health Information Portability and Accessibility Act regulates how healthcare providers are supposed to handle the PHI of patients. The Privacy Rule extends to providers and how they communicate with patients and families as well. And to repeat: NONE of the popular messaging apps meet this standard of security and privacy.

What qualifies as personal health information?

• Diagnosis

• Condition/Disease Name

• Medications (brands, generics, OTC, dosage, frequency, etc.)

• Doctors (by name or type of doctor)

• Care Instructions

• Medical Equipment

• Treatments (medications, supplements, rehab exercises, activities of daily living)

So whenever you’re talking to family, friends, or your healthcare provider about your loved one, you’re likely sharing information that includes PHI. That sharing can have consequences if not done with an eye on security.

What Are The Risks?

We have now entered the age of hacking and information security is at the forefront of the national discussion in areas including national security, elections, cloud storage, and yes, healthcare.

In the past two years, Apple, Facebook, Yahoo, and other tech heavyweights have revealed that their systems have been hacked with millions of records being stolen. In healthcare, however, the privacy breaches tend to be personal in nature—like healthcare providers revealing the private health information of celebrities. Why? Because healthcare technology is held to a much higher standard of security.

Five Negative Consequences of using Apps Unsecured for Healthcare

1. Discrimination. The main area people worry about is discrimination by employers or insurance companies. Employers could use PHI to find ways to terminate employment for your loved one under legal means, even if the health condition is the main reason. Losing one’s job can have devastating consequences for healthcare access and quality. Because health premiums are calculated by risk pools, people with diagnosed health conditions tend to pay higher monthly premiums for insurance coverage. It’s amazing that a small thing like sending a text message over unsecured apps could lead to such NEGATIVE outcomes. Don’t let it happen.

2. Outing your Loved One’s Condition. In sharing PHI with a trusted family member, you may inadvertently “out” your loved one’s information. How, you ask? Because the popular messaging apps do not have privacy protections that automatically log out users if they haven’t logged in for a period of time. That means if your family member loses their phone, anyone who recovers it can access your loved one’s PHI. Even if the person leaves the phone out and it is picked up by a friend of theirs and accessed, your loved one’s information could be accessed. This type of thing happens all the time and you should keep that in mind when having healthcare conversations on unprotected, unsecure apps.

3. Taking Away Your Loved One’s Right to Privacy. Privacy is a right that we are all guaranteed by the US Constitution. But if you’re sharing the PHI of a loved one over an unsecured app, you have in effect taken away their right to privacy. There are channels that you can use to transmit PHI securely. If you choose NOT to use these channels, you are taking away a fundamental right out of your personal convenience. That isn’t fair to your loved one. They trust you to care for them, so they trust you with their health information. Do not betray that trust.

4. Giving Away Your Right to Health Record Storage. The Privacy Rule not only ensures the security of your health information across electronic pathways, it also mandates that records be kept for six years. This means that your loved one has the right to storage of health information that can be used to help them in the future. If you’re not using a messaging app secure for healthcare, then you’re giving away your loved one’s right to health data storage. The popular messaging apps don’t retain your messages for more than a few months to a year. Don’t give away the right to data retention. It can save your loved one’s life—and potentially others.

5. Losing Valuable Data. If you’re having conversations about the health of loved ones on unsecured apps, the information your sharing isn’t transferrable to a health record. This means that healthcare professionals can’t use that information to design better treatment plans and protocols because they don’t know what is going on outside of their offices and facilities. With a HIPAA secure messaging app, many of the data are shareable to your loved one’s electronic health record (EHR). That is a major benefit of using apps secure for healthcare and a major lost opportunity when not using one.

Make sure you respect your loved one’s right to privacy and security. Respect YOUR OWN right to privacy as well. All of these issues apply to you and your healthcare as well. You wouldn’t want anyone in your family outing your personal business to others whether or not it was intended.

What You Should Do

Download a messaging app like Care3 (download Care3 in the App Store or Google Play) that is secure for healthcare (HIPAA-compliant) to protect your loved one’s health information while texting with family, friends, and healthcare providers.

Time for Some Action

You are not alone. Time for some ACTION. #takeaction #100daysofdiversity #caresharing

Care3 Supports Women's Marches Around the Globe

Care3 supports all of the women's marches around the globe! Esp. in LA. #womensmarch

To Care Is Human.

Caring is the highest form of human interaction. Let others help you care for your loved ones. #caresharing

Want to Be a Better Caregiver? Follow These 3 Steps...

By David Williams, Co-Founder & CEO, Care3. In this post, I am going to show you how you can take the best care of your loved one, get them to their best health outcome possible, and keep you sane and successful at the same time—all with a simple 3-step formula.

The #1 Struggle Primary Caregivers Face Today…

I have talked to hundreds of family caregivers. They've told me their stories about the challenges they face and the emotional toll caregiving can take on themselves and their families. I kept hearing the same thing....I even posted on Facebook and the first three comments confirmed what I was hearing.

Care3 Post on Facebook

1. Letting family members know about Care3

2. Praise

and what I hear is the #1 struggle:

1. Getting family and friends to help.

Family Caregiving in 2017 (and Beyond)

You already know that caring for a loved one has to result in reaching a goal.

• Stay OUT of the hospital

• Stay ON medications

• Live INDEPENDENTLY as an aging adult

Most family caregivers don’t have a process in place to care. They do like I did at first. All of the medications and care tasks are written on paper.

Daily Instructions on Paper

When things change, though, how quickly does that system work? You spend more time updating the paper than giving care.

In 2017, we all use mobile phones. Why shouldn’t there be a mobile app that can help you care for your loved one and keep everyone in your family updated on the progress?

Shouldn’t the same also help organize the care tasks and get others to help?

Hmm….

I guarantee you that putting a process in place will help your loved one reach a care goal while also making your life smoother and easier. Using technology accomplishes this process even faster.

How My Mom Went from 12 Hospitalizations in a Year to ZERO.

This is us the day we moved mom back into her own home.

My brother, Mom, myself and my wife. My sister took the picture.

It was a happy day. We were a little nervous, but we knew that she could take care of herself. That was huge for our confidence…and her dignity.

This 3-Step Process Helped Us Manage the Care for Mom and Get Others to Help.

Here’s the reality:

Most people don’t use technology like mobile apps to manage the care for loved ones and communicate efficiently to family and friends.

If you aren’t organized then you can’t adhere to the care instructions. If you can’t adhere to care instructions, your loved one will end up in the hospital—or worse.

Don’t let that happen to your loved one. Caregiving is TOO IMPORTANT not to do right.

Step #1: Gather All of the Care Instructions and Make a List

First, gather all of your care instructions from all sources. You may have received care instructions via a brochure or printout after a doctor visit. You may have notes written somewhere like a medication list or something (ridiculous) like the BLANK worksheet I received one time from a hospital at discharge. How was this going to be helpful?

Discharge Worksheet

The point is, no matter how big or small, gather all of the care tasks that need to be done in one place and make a list.

For my mom, we had to gather discharge instructions, internet research, and written notes into one master list. We had to go through her prescriptions and medication history which was all on paper.

I entered the list into a spreadsheet and entered when each task needed to be done. It's a bit of work, but having that list made a HUGE difference in Steps 2 and 3.

Step #2: Decide Who You Trust

Second, think about the people who you trust to help you care for your loved one. Get the email addresses and phone numbers for everyone who wants to be kept updated.

Keep them handy for Step 3.

Get Your Trusted Team Together

Think hard about who NEEDS to be kept up to date and who WANTS to be kept up to date. Prioritize the needs first. These people may be your family or maybe even close friends, but they have to be people who will help YOU.

When caring for my mom, my siblings and wife were the main care team, but we added my brother-in-law at times as well as close friends.

We used a group email to keep everyone in touch with the big updates. Day to day we just sent text messages. Using the technology made it easier to keep people in the loop, but also for them to respond. I didn't spend hours on the telephone telling the same story over and over again.

Step #3: Share Care Tasks with Everyone So They See How To Help

When people visibly see what they can do, even if it’s small, they feel like they can contribute. Most of the time, they just need to see how to help ahead of time so they can work it into their schedule rather than someone trying to tell them what to do.

This worked wonders for us as we cared for my mom. Even my siblings who were thousands of miles away, were able to actively help. We would agree on what each person would do. I emailed the spreadsheet to everyone and managed who would do what. It was a bit of a pain, but better than paper to track things.

When we cared as a team, mom got better and better. Nothing fell through the cracks, which is what was happening when she kept going back into the hospital. Technology was helpful in coordinating all the moving parts. Everyone contributed.

That is the secret!

But something was still bothering me...

There had to be a way to avoid using three different technologies, email, text messaging, and spreadsheets. It was easier to coordinate than using paper, but it wasn't as easy as I thought it should be.

And it was THAT revelation that led to Care3.

Care3 Makes The 3-Step Process Faster and Easier

Nowadays using mobile phones comes second nature, especially messaging apps. We already create group messaging conversations with family and friends with the popular messaging apps supplied on our phones.

Why not use the same mobile behaviors of messaging, task reminders, and a calendar to care for loved ones? That's why we built Care3. To help you be a better caregiver. And we help you get started with the 3-step process as soon as you sign up and install the app.

Care3 helps you complete the 3-step Care-Sharing process

Step 1: Your Care Team

Step 1: Invite Your Care Team

Inviting your Care Team is as easy as adding a phone number or email address. Having your list of family and trusted friends ready will make this go very quickly.

Step 2: Your Starter Care Plan

Step 2: Your Starter Care Plan

Care3 helps you compile your care tasks with our Starter Care Plan. This is a list of eight common care tasks performed daily or weekly. Start with our list and add your own to customize in one step. It's that easy!

Step 3: Your Care Conversation

Step 3: Your Care Conversations

When you create a Care Team, Care3 automatically starts the group messaging conversation. When you finish your Starter Care Plan, you will be able to send text messages just like you would with any other messaging app.

Care3 is easy to get started, and works like any other popular messaging app.

The difference, however, is ENORMOUS:

With Care3 your text messages are private, confidential, and protected with industry grade security protocols. Rest assured that we treat your loved one's personal health information with as much care as you treat your loved one!

You Can Do This!

Right now, you have to take action.

Get started Care-Sharing now.

If you haven't invited your Care Team, do it.

If you haven't created your Starter Care Plan, do it.

If you HAVE done these things, then more power to you! You're ready to help your loved ones reach their highest level of health possible.

Good luck! We're with you every step of the way.

Questions or comments? Drop us a line at blog@care3.co/blog.

Care3 Launches New Android Version of Its Flagship Family Caregiving App

(Los Angeles, CA) – January 15, 2017 – Care3™, a leading  developer of mobile health technology, is proud to announce the launch of the new Android version of its flagship family caregiving app. Care3 built the Android app to be used by family caregivers and professional home care aides for collaboration around care delivered in the home.

"We built the Android app for the greatest number of people to benefit from our platform for families," says David Williams, co-founder and CEO of Care3.

The Android app has both phone and tablet versions ready for download.

Download the Care3 Android app on Google Play.

The Importance of the "Done" Button

Successful caregiving depends on having the goals set and the tasks (medications, ADLs, etc.) laid in a routine that you can follow every single day. The faster you get into that routine, that groove, the better your caregiving will be and the better your loved one will feel. To help you get into your caregiving groove fast, we’ve created a Starter Care Plan of eight (8) common care tasks that you can enter into Care3 as sequenced Actions. You can accept the Actions yourself or your Care Team can help out.

But once you receive these Actions, you must accept them—and more importantly, complete them! Once you’ve completed an action, you may just let one person know that it’s done outside of the app. Care3 has an easy way to notify everyone that an Action is complete: the “done” button.

The "Done" Button

In the detail of each accepted Action, you’ll see the “done” button tantalizing you at the bottom. Tapping this button automatically sends a message to everyone in the conversation, notifying them that you completed the Action.

It’s that easy. Give it a try!

Tapping the “done” button is important because it notifies everyone simultaneously that the Action is complete, and also visually verifies that the action is done. This means that there will be no confusion as to whether the action was complete and you don’t have to notify multiple people with multiple calls or texts to let them know you’ve done the job.

So for all Actions that you accept, don’t forget to tap the “done” button. It’s easy to do—and important for everyone on your Care Team.

The Time Is Now to Invest in Digital Health for Underserved Groups

David S. Williams III

By David S. Williams, CEO, Care3. First published on Guest Voices by The Longevity Network 12/14/2016. In the course of raising funds for three different companies, I have talked to many investors: VCs, angels, private equity, all types. When they asked me, why digital health? Why was I building this? My answer over the years has been consistent. I want to create technology for people who typically don't have technology built for them—people of color, seniors, the poor, the disabled. These are the people who need the most help.

All too often the response was something like this:

As a startup you need to build technology for rich people, because they can afford to be early adopters.

Each time I heard that, I got a pit in my stomach. I kept asking myself, do all investors think this way? Thankfully, they all do not, but in my experience, the majority of investors believe the path to startup success is through the affluent.

Technology is supposed to help people who can most benefit from it. Technology is supposed to improve productivity and increase quality of life. In healthcare, the people who need higher productivity and better quality of life, are the underserved—people of color, seniors, the disabled and the poor. Those who don't have access to high quality care, don't have the best health outcomes. Those are the people who should get technology targeted for them.

Unfortunately, the unwritten rule in Silicon Valley is to create technology for rich people. Call it trickle-down technology, and the investment culture is built on that premise.

My personal experience has been in caregiving for my mother. She almost died having me. As far back as I remember, I always helped my mother take care of herself. She was a highly successful woman, earning a doctorate, two master's degrees, Ivy League undergraduate and was valedictorian of her high school class. For all of her success, she had health challenges that worsened dramatically as she aged. I cared for her for 10 years prior to her passing, 2.5 of which she lived with me and my family. There wasn't technology built for my mom as she aged. There were no digital health apps built for me as a caregiver, to coordinate her care and interact directly and confidentially with her professional care teams.

What I've also learned as a parent of a special needs child is that there is very little coordination of care services, and even fewer technology options that actually help people who are disabled to get the best outcomes, to get the best education, to get the best attention on their lives, even though they're the ones who can most benefit from it. I’m not talking about durable medical equipment. I’m talking about digital health solutions, driven by the massive proliferation of mobile technology throughout the world. Until recently, the people who need the technology most, especially in healthcare, have not had access to it. And that's wrong.

This is the first time in history, in which the people who can most benefit from digital health technology, especially the poor and disabled, those who are most vulnerable, have the ability to get tools and solutions in their hands, because of mobile smart devices. The proliferation of wireless broadband and the ability to drive content and applications to a mobile device are now ever-present. The penetration of these devices into people's homes, even at lower income levels, has reached a point of saturation, in which there's no excuse to say that people cannot get access to these types of apps. It's clear that the Digital Divide is becoming an archaic concept.

The “Digital Divide” is no longer an excuse to ignore investing in solutions for the underserved.

Look at recent data from Pew Internet: 77% plus, of households under $30,000 have mobile phones, of which half are smart technology, and that was as of two years ago. We're at the point now, where the populations who have the technology in hand, need only the content and the knowledge to realize the promise of technology on their lives.

And here's the most important development in the quest to serve the most vulnerable with digital health technology solutions: there are massive financial incentives to distribute these solutions to underserved populations for those taking risk for their care. In other words, the buyers for this mobile technology and digital health apps are not the patients and families who may not have the financial means to buy directly, but the entities who benefit financially from their patients’ continued health.

The technology buyers are the payers and providers with incentive to reduce hospital readmissions and avoidable emergency department visits. They gain the most financially. So now you have a financial buyer with a vulnerable and expensive population coupled with the penetration of mobile devices for point-of-care solutions. The power to improve healthcare is literally in the hands of the people who need it most.

Again, this is the first time in history when all of those factors are aligned. It's more than just an opportunity, it's a moral imperative to create technology solutions that help the underserved, that help the people who need it most.

As an African-American man with experience caring for an aging parent and a special needs child, who has the skills of an entrepreneur, who has the background in technology management and development, I take it as a personal responsibility to create technology for people who look like me. To drive new technologies in these communities. If I don’t take on this challenge, who will? This is why I do what I do. This is why our team built Care3. Now is the time to meet the challenge, to create solutions, not for the rich people, but for society's most vulnerable.

About the Author

David S. Williams III is a serial digital health entrepreneur and co-founder and CEO of Care3, a next generation technology platform inspired by his experience caring for his special needs son and the realization that the most vulnerable members of our society including seniors, people of color, and the disabled do not have equal access to healthcare and receive  woefully inadequate quality of care in their homes and communities. Care3 is built to fix these unacceptable and unnecessary disparities. David serves on the Board of Advisors of The Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at UCLA. He is a 2013 Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. David earned a BS in Economics and Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in Digital Strategy with a certificate in Corporate Governance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Let's Make This New Year's Resolution Together

As we embark on a new year, and look back at the last, it’s important to recognize that we can’t bring back those we lost. But we can take even better care of those we will have in our lives. Let’s make 2017 a new beginning in how we care for our loved ones.

What You Know That Others Don't

As a member of Care3, you know something that most others don’t when it comes to communicating with family and friends about the health of loved ones:

You know how important it is to protect your loved one’s health information as you’re having text messaging conversations on your mobile device.

Most people still use unsecure apps for healthcare messaging like iMessage, SMS, Facebook Messenger, or WhatsApp. NONE of those apps protect the messages from your device to the cloud AND encrypt the stored data for ultimate security. Having your healthcare messaging conversations on Care3 ensures the protection of any personal health information shared as well as any data stored in the app.

Let's Make This Resolution Together

Let’s make this resolution together: if someone sends you a text message on one of the other messaging apps about the health of family or friends, let them know about Care3. Invite them to the app by starting a new conversation with them. Tell them that it’s not safe to have those kinds of conversations on apps that aren’t secure for healthcare.

If we all do this, then we can provide better care for our loved ones in 2017 by keeping their health information secure, and private from anyone watching while collaborating with family and friends.

In 2017 we will treat our loved ones’ health information with the same love and diligence we use when we care for them.

Share this post with as many people as you can to spread the word. Happy New Year!

Five Ways to Stay in Your Caregiving Flow When Family Comes to Town

The holiday season is filled with happiness, cheer, and family visits. As a caregiver, those family visits can be wonderful, but also introduce interruptions to your routine, especially if your visitors are staying with you in the house.

Here are five ways to stay in your caregiving flow when family comes to town.

#1. Warn them about priorities.

People like to be treated like guests and get waited on hand and foot when they’re visiting. Even family. Maybe ESPECIALLY family. Be sure to warn them up front that your caregiving responsibilities come before their needs and that they are able-bodied and can do things for themselves. You can be blunt since, well, they’re family. They’ll understand.

#2. Show them what you do each day.

Many family members don’t have a good idea of what gets done each day to take care of your loved one. They’re in the privileged position of not having to do much, if anything, to help out. A clever way to expose them to the routine is to walk them through it all one day as they’re there. At that point, they’ll get the picture. You can also send them the list of daily activities that you’re doing while they’re in town so they get the visual picture ahead of time. Either way, showing them what’s required will result in your gaining newfound respect among family members.

#3. Recruit help.

If you do #2, then this one becomes second nature. Your family can see how to help immediately and see how to help out while they’re in town or in the house. That can get you a few minutes of solitude, respite, or free time to do other things, like holiday shopping for gifts for THEM. Funny how family become very helpful when they know you’re out buying them presents.

#4. Start a group messaging conversation.*

As it becomes clear what is required to care for your loved one, family will want to be kept updated periodically on status. A group messaging conversation can keep everyone in the loop, and also increases overall communication between remote family members, which is actually nice. Using your caregiving role to bring family closer together this holiday season can be a very positive side effect of their visits.

#5. Ask for ongoing help.

Having earned the respect of family members for your caregiving role, the other benefit is feeling more comfortable asking for help. In the group conversation you can ask if anyone can do a particular task. No matter how small, people will feel more connected to you and want to help. This is an easy way to get them to contribute.

*NOTE: Make sure you’re using a HIPAA-compliant messaging app, like Care3, for this group conversation. When sharing personal health information of a patient, the data must be confidential and protected. The popular messaging apps like FB Messenger, iMessage, and SMS are NOT secure for healthcare conversations.

So take advantage of the family time this holiday season while staying in your caregiving flow. Use this time to share what you’re doing in your caregiving role and recruit others to help, not only while they’re visiting, but beyond as well.

Happy Holidays!

Interview with Joe Betancourt, MD - MGH Office of Disparities Solutions - Part 2

Joe Betancourt, MD

In Part 2 of this two part powerful interview, Dr. Betancourt shares his thoughts on how technology can help reduce health disparities and how hospitals and health systems can show leadership in driving better care and outcomes for all.

Learn more about MGH Office of Disparities Solutions.

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