Mobile Healthcare Blog | mHealth: Keeping Data Secure in a Wireless Setting
A recent podcast given by Eric Brown, Vice President of Healthcare Research, Forrester Research discussed the trend in healthcare towards delivering data to caregivers in a mobile setting. He points out that Smartphones are now replacing cassette recorders and digital portable recorders for dictating among caregivers- and for good reason. With Smartphones, caregivers’ dictated encounter notes can be automatically tagged with a patient’s demographics such as medical record number, encounter date and other information, and can then be routed to transcription services and back to the caregiver for e-signature, making the dictation process quick, secure, and efficient.
Most dictation input methods widely used today are outdated and have a number of security issues. In many instances cassette tapes containing patient medical information have been stolen from healthcare facilities. Most telephone dictation systems do not provide secure phone lines to transfer patient data to outsourced transcription services. Some digital recorders allow for the encryption of data during transmission, but do not have a secure login and authentication. If the digital recorder is stolen or misplaced, it is vulnerable to data theft, because patient data still resides on the device. Unlike other solutions, IQMax utilizes a thin client (web based) solution, so patient data remains on IQMax’s servers and not on the device, providing a significant level of security versus other solutions that use a thick client (on device) architecture that leaves patient data on each mobile device. With IQMax, users are required to login using appropriate credentials in order to access detailed patient data, and the software features automatic, timed logout. So if a user’s device is stolen, patient data remains secure. Moreover, patient data is encrypted at all times during transmission, allowing patient data to move securely from the physician to the transcriptionist and back again to the healthcare facility, ensuring patient data is fully secure at all points.
With IQMax, any caregiver (physician, physician assistant, nurse, etc.) can use their favorite Blackberry or Windows Mobile device to efficiently dictate anytime, anywhere, in any care setting, in a secure environment.