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Andrew JClarkin, Consultant in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine,
November 13, 2015
This survey demonstrated that a significant proportion of clinicians
use smartphones to share clinical information. While this rightly raises
concerns over confidentiality and makes headlines in the press it is
important to question why this situation has arisen. As Mobasheri and
colleagues demonstrated, ownership is near ubiquitous among medical staff
and this affords availability and immediacy of access. It is hardly
surprising that medics should choose to use tools which improve their
efficiency and the care they deliver to their patients. If there is a
faster or easier way to answer a clinical question than using the legacy
IT systems and software that many trusts provide then many will use it.
It would appear that the NHS lags behind the private sector in having
the appropriate software tools and as a result many individuals find their
own solutions. There is an abundance of software available, much of it
free, which enhances productivity. Rather than limiting staff to safe but
basic tools, hospital IT departments would do well to explore these
available options and facilitate the use of modern collaborative software
to optimise workflow and improve patient care.
This survey demonstrated that a significant proportion of clinicians use smartphones to share clinical information. While this rightly raises concerns over confidentiality and makes headlines in the press it is important to question why this situation has arisen. As Mobasheri and colleagues demonstrated, ownership is near ubiquitous among medical staff and this affords availability and immediacy of access. It is hardly surprising that medics should choose to use tools which improve their efficiency and the care they deliver to their patients. If there is a faster or easier way to answer a clinical question than using the legacy IT systems and software that many trusts provide then many will use it.
It would appear that the NHS lags behind the private sector in having the appropriate software tools and as a result many individuals find their own solutions. There is an abundance of software available, much of it free, which enhances productivity. Rather than limiting staff to safe but basic tools, hospital IT departments would do well to explore these available options and facilitate the use of modern collaborative software to optimise workflow and improve patient care.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared