Case Study: St. John Providence Health System achieves secure, efficient clinical communications with PerfectServe

Addressing clinical communications security with PerfectServe

St. John Providence Health System faced growing concern over the security and efficiency of clinician-to-clinician communications as physicians increasingly sought to use text messaging and mobile devices to exchange PHI. After a 2010 loss of a portable device highlighted vulnerabilities, the health system looked for a way to enable encrypted, streamlined communication across phones, paging and other modes — and turned to PerfectServe’s secure communications platform.

PerfectServe was implemented to provide server-based, HIPAA-compliant messaging and a module (added in September 2013) for direct physician-to-physician contact via smartphone or toll-free access, with secure voice messaging when clinicians are unavailable. The rollout drew rapid voluntary adoption — about 4,000 physicians across all five hospitals — and delivered measurable benefits: reduced physician frustration, mitigation of portable-device risks, faster intra-system collaboration and a perceived market advantage for the health system.

St. John Providence Health System

Mike Burke

HIPAA privacy officer