As health-related technology gets more popular and sophisticated, the mobile landscape is heating up, and not just in device ownership and use. The FDA recently said it plans to provide more regulatory clarity and guidelines on mobile health apps; the ONC (Office of National Coordinator for Health IT) announced a new initiative to accelerate R&D; and numerous start-ups are developing health and mobile Apps, from Pipette (patient monitoring and education) to Genomera, (personal health collaboration).
“The future is personalization and increased mobile interaction with patients,” said Joe McGurk, a spokesperson for appsbar, which allows physicians to build professional level apps, breaking down the tech and cost barriers.
The rapid adoption rate of iDevices and other mobile gadgets might be exceeding smooth integration, said Mike Meikle, head of the Hawkthorne Group, a boutique management and information technology consulting firm. Many EMR solutions have not updated their Graphical User Interface (GUI) to work effectively with the iDevice touch screens, especially the iPhone. There are significant development efforts underway by the major EMR providers to update their applications to fit the touch-based iOS (Operating Systems).
And, as always, there’s the issue of security, as many rely on third party offerings to fill in the security gaps, thereby vulnerable to malicious attacks if not implemented correctly. “Also, since they can also be a personal device as well, doctors have a habit of saving Private Health Information (PHI) onto the local device, a breach of HIPAA and HITECH regulations,” Meikle said.
Still, smartphones and tablets support the inherently mobile work style of many physicians, so industry analysts agree the appeal and penetration of such devices with healthcare providers will only increase. “Physicians are surrounded by technology in their workplace, and most are eager to use technology that works for them,” said Peter Henderson of PatientKeeper, a provider of health IT applications, who predicts that mobile CPOE (physician order entry) could well emerge as the physician’s “killer app” for iPhones, iPads and other mobile devices. “Physician adoption of CPOE is a key for healthcare providers to meet Meaningful Use requirements (and receive financial incentives) set by the federal government,” Henderson said.
Although historically CPOE has not been “physician friendly,” that is changing. “The new generation of CPOE is both more usable for physicians, and – when ported to iOS and Android-based devices – more accessible to physicians,” Henderson said.
Of physicians who have not yet joined the mobile age, almost half said they plan to purchase on this year, and even older physicians, often depicted as reluctant technocrats, are adopting tablet technology at about the same rate as younger physicians. Smart phones are revolutionizing the communication of real-time patient information. “As patients as well as physicians expand their use of mobile devices for personal healthcare, it can only positively impact provider-patient interactions and the delivery of care,” Henderson said.
