Policy Plays Catch Up to Mobile Technology
Christopher Tashjian, M.D.Tashjian said physicians at his organization that a year ago would text X-rays to specialists, but had to cease doing that to adhere to HIPAA policies. His organization is now trying to move forward with work-arounds, for example, by messaging an image of a fracture, but not including any patient identifiable data.Jacob DeLaRosa, M.D., a cardiovascular surgeon at Idaho State University, and chief of cardiothoracic and endovascular surgical services at Portneuf Medical Center (Boise, Idaho), said he used a mobile device to view cardiology reports, coronary angiography reports, and CT scans. This allows him to give his medical opinion quickly over the phone, he said, instead of having to drive to hospital to view reports.The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS )is currently working on promoting a few key initiatives in the mobile health area, including a HIMSS Mobile Technology Survey that was released last fall. The survey found that the majority of respondents (84 percent) look up non-PHI health information, while 75 percent of respondents view patient information, and 28 percent of respondents are permitted to store patient information on their mobile devices, said Lisa Gallagher, senior director of privacy and security at HIMSS. The survey also found clinicians were most concerned about the speed of data access, privacy and security, and screen resolution when accessing information via mobile device. HIMSS is sponsoring a mHealth summit in December, and working on enhancing a mobile security toolkit with best practices, etc.