The government claimed over a decade ago that turning medical charts into electronic records would make health care better. But today, the system is still seeing major problems with the management of electronic record keeping. In fact, the battle over medical providers and institutions hiding facts from their patients after they have suffered injury due to negligence has become a serious problem. Motions regarding facts that belong in patient records are being hidden in Patient Safety filings, as well as audit trails that show any change to records. Now a new way to safeguard communications about patient care has emerged.

Text (SMS) messaging has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. According to a 2011 study done by the Pew Research Center, 83% of American adults owned cellphones and a staggering 73% send and receive text messages. See Aaron Smith, Pew Research Center, "Americans and Text Messaging" (Sept. 19, 2011).