Revolutionizing federal and military healthcare: preserving privacy with mobile-first technology

Federal and military healthcare organizations have long grappled with the complex intricacies of using legacy technology. Accessing critical patient data and medical records was often hindered by security concerns and data management issues. These technological challenges resulted in unfavorable experiences for warfighters and their families when attempting to access health records, communicate with doctors, or use their health benefits.

From a federal healthcare provider standpoint, the costly and desk-bound hardware in the current process leaves mobile doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals to resort to workarounds that compromise privacy when seeking secure and remote access to electronic protected health information (ePHI) and personal records.

In a field where every second counts and lives are on the line, technological hurdles can be a matter of life or death. This is why the Defense Health Agency (DHA), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense (DoD), and other healthcare organizations identified this as a major challenge they aimed to address in 2023. Their goal is to refocus their efforts on providing the best care to our nation's warfighters and their families.

A new age of technology is needed

Healthcare organizations like the DHA, VA, and the DoD are proactively embracing technology and innovation to advance the quality and accessibility of healthcare services. DHA's strategic plan emphasizes achieving new levels of excellence and preparedness in medical teams. Similarly, the VA and DoD have been actively investing in digital health solutions, telehealth, electronic health records, and interoperable systems to enhance patient care, streamline processes, and improve healthcare outcomes. These organizations are committed to leveraging cutting-edge technologies and innovative approaches to deliver more efficient, patient-centric, and resilient healthcare services to the military and veteran communities.

What type of technology can be implemented today?

Hypori empowers military members and healthcare facilities to use a secure, virtual bring-your-own-device (BYOD) solution to remotely access ePHI data securely, share patient data seamlessly, and preserve user privacy of their own personal data via a separate, secure virtual device on any smartphone or tablet. This is all achieved without needing to purchase expensive additional hardware which requires distribution, management, maintenance, and monitoring. By enabling healthcare professionals to provide care to the warfighter anywhere, anytime, always from their personal devices, Hypori supports the DHA and other top military healthcare agencies' objectives to achieve new levels of excellence in military healthcare.

Beyond providing secure access and enabling interoperability, Hypori is focused on data security, privacy, and ease of use. Hypori provides the following benefits:  

• Data Mobility: Empower healthcare professionals and patients on-the-go access to ePHI securely from their own personal devices.
• Enhanced Security: Even in the unlikely event of a breach, Hypori's no-data-at-rest approach means that sensitive information is never saved to the physical device and the data remains safely out of reach for unauthorized parties. This also eliminates the risk of data loss due to government or organization-issued mobile devices being stolen or lost.
• Compliance: Hypori aligns with stringent HIPAA-regulatory requirements, ensuring that federal and military healthcare organizations comply with data security standards.

Hypori  is proven in action

As of August 2023, the Army exclusively uses Hypori virtual BYOD as its enterprise capability for secure virtual mobility. Hypori also has a 3-year contract with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to revolutionize secure mobility; supporting their mobile infrastructure transformation from government-provided cell phones to an unclassified virtual BYOD approach in addition to many other organizations.

Specifically for healthcare, Hypori provides a simple, secure, and low-cost solution that empowers the clinician, preserves patient and clinician privacy, and eliminates the need to manage extra hardware. In the use case detailed below, Hypori enabled a Home Healthcare Provider with zero-trust access to protected health information from mobile devices.

Business Need: Frontline health providers need secure, HIPAA-compliant access to patient data to deliver quality care in the convenience of the client's home.

Challenge: The risks of ePHI leakage, associated costs (devices, IT overhead), and administrative complexity of managing corporate-issued devices are staggering.

Solution: During the home visit, the clinician logs into the Hypori app from any smartphone or tablet for secure access to the patient’s records, treatment plans, medication schedules, and medical directives. No extra device for the clinician to manage or remember and no data at risk.

Learn more about Hypori and how federal and military healthcare organizations can benefit from Healthcare BYOD here.