In the age of electronic data exchange, securing mobile devices has been a chief concern of IT professionals, with many devices handling sensitive protected health information (PHI) on a daily basis. And as the adoption of tablets and smartphones in the health care setting continues to grow, with studies reporting marked efficiencies from use, it has become the norm for clinicians and medical residents to actively use their devices as mHealth tools during the care delivery process. As with any new trend though, many have voiced their concerns in regards to the risks associated with these mobile devices, especially with stats like 19 million Americans being affected by a data breach since 2009 coming to light.
Most of the information that we use on these devices is accessed in real time, and we are relying more and more on centralized and cloud based services to deliver this information to us. The data is not stored on the device directly, but rather accessed via connecting to other services and sources that provide the data for authorized users.
While there are many standards and compliance mandates put forth by HIPAA to help outline the requirements for securing health information, there are still no clear definitions on standards to address the privacy and security of information in mobile devices.
The ONC is now taking on the task to put together, based on public input, a set of best practices related to the use of mobile devices by providers and other health care delivery professionals to access, store and transmit health information. The current public comment will remain open until Friday March 30th, 2012.
The ONC has outlined some of the details of what they are seeking as part of the feedback, including:
- World Usages of Mobile Devices by Providers and Other Health Care Delivery Professionals
- Real World Mobile Device Privacy & Security Practices, Strategies and Technology
- Any Other Comments on Provider and Other Health Care Delivery Professional Usages of Mobile Devices
