Keane Insurance Group Partners with Mediprocity to Provide HIPAA Compliant Texting for Physicians

ST. LOUIS - Oct. 21, 2013 - PRLog -- The Keane Insurance Group is the first independent medical malpractice insurance broker in the nation to offer its physician clients encrypted, HIPAA/HITECH compliant texting, enabling convenient and secure communication between staff, nursing homes, hospitals and other physicians.  Partnering with Mediprocity, an innovative new communication tool, Keane is able to help clients reduce the risk of violating regulatory laws such as the HIPAA final rule, which became effective on September 23, 2013.  Mediprocity is being offered free to physicians and two of their staff members.

The response to Mediprocity from the Keane Group’s clients is steadily growing as physicians and their office administrators realize the seriousness of achieving and proving compliance to the government regulations.  Many physicians are seeing that Mediprocity is the best alternative to unsecure texting of private information.

The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is designed to protect private patient health information and requires that healthcare providers perform a risk analysis to understand and address threats and vulnerabilities for a breach of patient health information.  Providers are then to set an office policy that offers a solution for encrypted end-to-end communication.  Mediprocity provides a web-based solution that includes a mobile app that works just like texting on a smartphone or any mobile device.  Mediprocity gives physicians more flexibility than any other product available because it can be used on a desktop or laptop computer as well as mobile devices.  This flexibility enables easy communication with office staff, hospitals and facilities, as well as referrals of patients to other physician colleagues.

While it may be unusual for an insurance broker to provide this type of service to its clients, John Keane, President of the Keane Group, believes it is one more way he can help physicians manage risk.  “Whether it’s malpractice liability,  cyber liability or government regulations, we want to be in the forefront of protecting doctors from the risks threatening their practices,” Keane said.  “That’s the way I’ve approached this business from the very beginning.  I want my agency to serve our clients’ most crucial needs, and the HIPAA and HITECH laws are the biggest concerns for the healthcare industry right now,” he concluded.

In addition to Mediprocity, Keane is sponsoring HIPAA compliance workshops in various areas as well as an insurance policy that protects against HIPAA and HITECH violations, cyber liability and many other regulations being addressed by the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (http://www.hhs.gov/) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS). (http://www.cms.gov/)

The Keane Insurance Group (http://www.keanegroup.com/) is based in St. Louis and has offices in Chicago, Kansas City, and Austin.  With more than 4,000 clients, Keane is one of the largest independent brokers of medical professional liability in the nation.  Licensed in all 50 states, Keane offers coverage for any specialty in any state.  To learn more about the Keane Group, contact Monte Shields, Manager, Agency Marketing: monteshields@keanegroup.com or call 800-966-7731.