An Evaluation of a Secure Messaging System for Transferring PHI

OBJECTIVES: Clinical researchers routinely de-identify patient data for electronic transfer. De-identification hinders researchers from re-using patient data for unanticipated future research. This project evaluated H-Wire (H-wire, LLC.), a secure messaging technology with a track record in the financial industry, for satisfying four requirements of secure transfer of protected health information (PHI): high security, easy-to-use, supported by non-technical staff, and low cost.

METHODS: First, U-M IT security personnel conducted a security review. Second, clinical research personnel at in China, Taiwan, Pakistan, Poland; Kentucky and Michigan performed three tasks to measure ease-of-use: Getting Started (set-up account & send a confirming message), Correspondence (receive and send attachments & monitor message progress), and Finish (look-up address & send a data file). Each participant completed a questionnaire consisting of Likert-scale and open-ended questions following each task. Third, a research associate communicated with participants and if necessary called upon IT personnel to resolve questions. Fourth, tracking the research associate's time, and computing the initial and recurring infrastructure and operational costs at all sites determined costs.

RESULTS: The security review was favorable. Likert-scale questions indicate that H-Wire is easy-to-use. On a scale of 1-6 (1=very easy; 6=very difficult) sub-scores mean values are: Learning-to-Use=2.1, Set-up=2.3, Logging-on=1.0, Sending-Messages=1.1, and Sending-files=1.0. Questionnaire responses revealed users felt comfortable using H-Wire, it decreased their workload, and H-Wire's feature to confirm data arrival is critical. The research associate's average time/participant was <12 minutes. The average time spent by each participant to complete all tasks was <1 hour. The entire evaluation was conducted without using any technical support. Initial costs are <$50/participant/year & recurring costs <$100/participant/year.

CONCLUSION: H-Wire is secure, low cost, able to be supported by non-technical personnel, and easy-to use. Use of H-Wire would allow researchers to consider gathering and transferring PHI because it could be transferred securely.