The companies deployed the HIPAA/GDPR compliant encrypted messaging platform to stop the use of consumer-grade messaging apps and streamline internal and patient communications
NetSfere, a global provider of next-generation secure and compliant messaging and mobility solutions, announces its partnership with Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, to deploy NetSfere’s secure mobile messaging platform in all St. Augustinus hospitals, a leading German healthcare group.
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Quick, instantaneous communication tools offer undisputed benefits to streamline staff communication, however, St. Augustinus noticed an alarming increase in the use of personal devices and popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, which pose critical privacy and compliance risks. In response, NetSfere and Deutsche Telekom partnered to implement NetSfere’s HIPAA and GDPR compliant messaging platform that offers similar functionality to apps like WhatsApp but provides the highest level of end-to-end encryption through Deutsche Telekom’s highly secure data center.
“NetSfere is designed to meet security and compliance requirements in regulated verticals including healthcare,” says Franz Obermayer, NetSfere’s Vice President Europe. “Medical professionals do high-pressure, life-changing work, which demands a communication platform that enables them to do so more effectively. Our partnership with the St. Augustinus Group provides secure, compliant, and flexible messaging options that eliminate the need for staff members to turn to risky messaging apps. With NetSfere, the exchange of patient data is protected to the maximum.”
Unlike consumer-grade messaging apps, NetSfere provides enterprise-grade functionalities that boost collaboration and streamline communications including individual and group messaging, HD audio calling, screen sharing, and group video calling. New to the platform, the NetSfere Lifeline emergency broadcast feature allows HR and crisis teams to quickly disseminate high priority, critical alerts and emergency information to targeted teams or an entire organization in an attention-grabbing manner. St. Augustinus is leveraging NetSfere broadcasting within its hospital to keep employees up-to-date on information related to the pandemic through its “Corona Ticker” NetSfere Lifeline channel.
“In the sensitive medical environment, it must be possible to communicate quickly and securely. NetSfere is the specialist for instant messages in companies. Telekom brings its expertise in security, consulting, and service. Together, we can meet the special industry requirements, and that is quite crucial right now,” says Hagen Rickmann, Managing Director Business Customers, Telekom Deutschland GmbH. “In this way, we can directly contribute to relieving the burden on staff and support optimal patient care.”
“It is our responsibility to equip our employees with suitable tools. They must be able to do their work effectively. At the same time, the privacy of our patients must be protected,” says Rainer Pappert, Managing Director of the St. Augustinus Group. “With the introduction of NetSfere, we followed the wishes of our employees: They want to use their personal devices. And they want to do so with an easy-to-use messaging app. So, we quickly introduced NetSfere for internal communication. With it, we quickly achieved better productivity and collaboration. Between teams, but also within our entire group. And that’s about 5,600 colleagues.”
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St. Augustinus was drawn to using NetSfere as a solution for its staff not only because of its robust functionality, but also its industry recognition. In 2018 and 2019, NetSfere was selected by Entscheiderfabrik, a platform for IT decision makers of over 800 German hospitals, as the winner of the “Digitization Topic of the German Healthcare Industry.”
“Key highlights from our recently published VoTE: Digital Pulse, Business Reinvention & Transformation 2021 show that information security, employee productivity and business continuity remain top of mind for IT decision-makers,” said Raúl Castañón-Martinez, Senior Analyst for Workforce Collaboration at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence division. These factors will drive market requirements for business communications and collaboration, particularly for mobile, remote/hybrid and frontline workers across verticals and use cases such as field workers and healthcare providers.”(1)
