Few people need to be convinced of the advantages of texting. It may be the fastest and most efficient way of sending information in a given situation. Reports show that texting among physicians is widespread and that they are texting clinical information — whether it is legal to do so or not. Physicians who text each other clinical information risk exposing themselves to privacy and security violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA.)

But a new smartphone app is changing all that.

TMA-member physicians now have the option to text each other patient information in a secure, HIPAA-compliant manner, thanks to an app called DocbookMD.


DocbookMD is a physicians-only smartphone app that allows physicians to:

• send HIPAA-compliant text messages and photos;
• assign an urgency setting to outgoing text messages;
• search a local pharmacy directory;
• search a local county medical society directory (including email addresses and photos);
• available for use on multiple devices (up to one phone and one tablet).

“DocbookMD allows you to look up another doctor at the point of care. You can then either call the physician or send a text message with room numbers, medical record numbers, even pictures of wounds and x-rays. And all of this is sent securely and in a way that meets HIPAA requirements,” says DocbookMD cofounder and TMA member Tim Gueramy, MD.  

Think the feds aren't serious about enforcing HIPAA privacy violations? Think again.

Message content can include patient information, such as diagnosis, test results, or medical history. Physicians can also add a high-resolution image of an EKG, an x-ray, lab report, or anything that can be photographed with a smartphone to the message.

Messages can then be sent using the app’s messaging priority system. Physicians can assign each message a 5-minute, 30-minute, or normal response time. “If the recipient does not answer the message within 5 minutes or if the message does not get to the doctor, you will then get a message back stating that it did not make it,” says Dr. Gueramy. “You can see and hear that the message you receive is different from any other text.”

All messages sent using DocbookMD meet HIPAA requirements for encryption and the security of protected health information. This is accomplished through technology that keeps everything encrypted on the DocbookMD server. Messages are not downloaded to the phone, but are viewed from the phone.

Additionally, DocbookMD is a closed network. Only physicians have access to the app. Physicians also must sign a HIPAA agreement before using DocbookMD.

DocbookMD is a free member benefit, available in Texas only to TMA members. So you must be a member of TMA and your county society. Across the country, DocbookMD is offered as a free benefit exclusively through county/state medical societies and is now available in 23 states across 101 medical societies.

Already a member, download the DocbookMD application now via the iTunes App Store for iPhone/iPad, or for Android via Google Play.

Call your county medical society for the credentialing data you need to start using DocbookMD, or contact the TMA Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955 or (512) 370-1550 or knowledge@texmed.org.