Remember when it seemed exciting to find a communications tool that touted HIPAA compliance at the top of its feature list? “Is it secure?” was one of the first questions asked when evaluating medical communication technology. Now, 20 years after the Kennedy-Kassebaum Act was first passed, compliance is generally assumed. Of course, HIPAA compliance is critically important. It’s the law. But it now sits in the background, almost as part of the scenery, instead of prominently featuring in discussions about how a system works. It’s like airbags in your car; they’re legally mandated and you spend no more than a few seconds thinking about them when shopping for a new ride.

Text messaging is rampant in hospitals. Instead of relying on pagers, clinical staff are now using their mobile devices to communicate in real-time. As time is of the essence in patient care, this makes sense. Nurses are frustrated with delays from third-party answering services. Doctors are tired of roundabout communication channels to give a simple, one-word approval. Unfortunately, text messaging in hospitals is not without risks.

Here are the 5 biggest risks of text messaging in hospitals: