Impact of mobile devices in healthcare
Mobile Devices in Healthcare
Value of Mobile devices in Healthcare
Technology is increasing making life easier and now that the internet has taken root in our society; it is helping people in different fields and different careers in accessing information and in communication. This is the case in all sectors of the economy even the agricultural sectors where applications and modified plants are used in order to ensure the safety and the production rate of the agricultural sector. In the health care industry and sector, health care personnel are increasing using technology in aiding in their progress and the administration of their work and services. This has gone to a step that the gadgets that are being use in the healthcare sector like in all other sectors are Smartphone’s, tablets, I-pads, laptops and computers. (Straus, 2011)(Mobile Devices in Healthcare )
It is thus quite right that it was expected that was in due time that health care personnel even doctors would be communicating with their patients through phones and mobile-applications or computer programs which has risked the ethic that the health sector was previously perceived to hold. The privacy of patients and the safety of their information is still a major factor but when communicating with patients over the phone, their security and privacy is at risk as mobile phones are easily hacked or could get stolen, misplaced or lost; meaning that the patients information would be in the hands of someone who doesn’t subscribe to patient doctor confidentiality.(Mobile Devices in Healthcare )
The PDAs, Personal Digital Assistants have gone a step further such that one can use them as a reference for doing operations or treatments as one only has to ask their counterpart for a video on how certain procedures are done and they are sent a copy (Straus, 2011). It has enhanced the power if sharing and consultation between doctors making it easier for a field where information and techniques were previous sold off at a price rather than shared for advancement in the health sector.
Security in using mobile devices
In using mobile phones and other gadgets in dealing with health issues pertaining to patients it is important to ensure that doctor patient confidentiality and the privacy of the patients is actually respected. This is through ensuring that the PDA is carefully looked after and at the same that it has a password that will ensure that other people will not accessed the information on it easily when they get it.This can be achieved by ensuring that the device has a password or is encrypted in order to ensure that the data is encrypted. (Kipper, 2007)
Health information should be secured and android and Apple powered devices have security measures that ensure that the information of the owner of the device is protected by ensuring that certain mechanism are in place that help in tracking and wiping out of the information on a device bolstering the security that the device has. Devices are also empowered with the strength of ensuring that an individual is logged out of an account whenever they are using the device which ensures the security of the patients that they have received in their accounts. Through this it becomes difficult to access patient information on the device. (Straus, 2011)
Organizations can go a step further to providing devices to their personnel which are encrypted and have a tracking mechanism which ensures that they are lost and can be traced. By doing so the organization is ensuring that they are taking responsibility of the patient’s information and ensuring that they are providing their staff with secure devices that cannot be hacked into or that are easy to track or remotely wipe.
By wiping the device, the information that it contains is lost and cannot be recovered. The same case goes for encrypting a device. If someone tries to hack or illegally access the device without knowing its settings, it shuts down and if the hack go on then the device will wipe out the information it contained. This ensures that the information of the patients is secure. (Al-Hakim, 2007)
It is also important to realize that using public internet systems such as public hotspots and Wi-Fi puts patient’s information at risk. This is because information received and accessed over a public information system is easily accessible to other users who if one hasn’t protected their devices will find it easy to access their information and get their private files (Kipper, 2007). It is hence to ensure that when using a public network one encrypts their device and also they minimizes the time period that they access the network. This will ensure that the information contained in the devices isn’t easily accessible by experienced hackers.
It is important to assess the mobiles that the organization or as an individual on is using in accessing the patients information. By assessing the situation one should use this and compare it with the organizations risk management policy and strategies and if it is in line with that goal. This ensures that the employees are in compliance and aren’t liable in case of leak in patient information. This also ensures that the patient information is safe and the organizations policies should be compared with the HIPAA policies and laws which regulate the use of devices in the health care industry. (Kipper, 2007)
Impact of mobile devices in healthcare
Mobile devices are increasing being used in the health sector and more s in fighting some of the most dangerous diseases that we have got. It is just with time that we are going to get applications and programs that can alert an individual before an asthma attack or heat attack can occur (Falvo, 2014). Already mobile devices are helping in the fight against by ensuring that by using GPS settings, an area which has been marked to cause asthma attack is marked and is an asthmatic person with an inhaler can get a notification that they are going to be passing through an area with allergic materials.
This has helped in decreasing the number of asthma attacks that people are suffering. This has ensured that asthmatic deaths have been reduced to a minimum and at the same time safeguarding and protecting the lives of asthmatic people.
Applications which help people with chronic diseases in monitoring their blood pressure are already in use and this has helped in ensuring that individuals who are experiencing chronic disease reduce the risk of heart attacks. It uses the blood pressure in order to warn the user of the risk of a heart attack if they jeep on with what they are doing. (Falvo, 2014)
Mobile diseases are an advantage to the health sector and will continue to serve as means to protecting life such that they can warn ne of imminent attacks i.e., asthmatic and heart attacks.
Mobile applications are also being used to warn people in case of a contagious disease in certain areas and through this information are spread and warn people to avoid certain areas as they risk getting infected. In being a key factor of communication, it has been used as a key to the prevention of the spread of multiple diseases through social media and also through applications.
References
Al-Hakim, L. (2007). Web mobile-based applications for healthcare management. Hershey, PA: IRM Press.
Falvo, D. R. (2014). Medical and Psychosocial Aspects of Chronic Illness and Disability. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Kipper, G. (2007). Wireless crime and forensic investigation. Boca Raton, FL: Auerbach Publications.
Straus, S. E. (2011). Evidence-based medicine: How to practice and teach it. Edinburgh: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone.