Technology in Healthcare (ANSWERED)

Step 1: Read the following case study:

In a local home healthcare agency, nurses are using their personal cell phones to email and text physicians, the agency, and local hospitals. The agency is considering providing the nurses company cell phones with a secure login. There are advantages and disadvantages of each option.

Step 2: Your first post is based on the first letter of your last name. For example, if your last name is Smith, you would address the use of company devices. Please consider impact of use, tracking of information, security, education, cost, and maintenance.

Step 3: Reply to classmates in either group.

Your discussion post should look like:

• Paragraph one: Discuss advantages of the assigned device (based on last name)
• Paragraph two: Discuss disadvantages of the assigned device (based on last name)
• Paragraph three: Explain your personal opinion of which device should be selected.
• Resources: Where did you find your data?

ANSWER

Technology in Healthcare

Personal digital devices (PDD), e.g., smartphones and tablets, have become ubiquitous among nurses. The advantage of these devices is that they offer unprecedented convenience in accessing medical information. Practitioners can use the PDDs to make drug calculations and obtain evidence to guide their clinical practice. They can download data onto their devices and use them to search or input information that can later be synchronized (Divall et al., 2013). Another advantage of these devices is that many have internet connectivity; therefore, nurses can retrieve information at the bedside. McBride and LeVasseur (2017) also report that personal devices enhance care coordination and unit cohesion by facilitating provider data-sharing. These devices offer convenience in data-sharing and collection.

The disadvantage of these devices is that they present data security risks. Unauthorized persons, including family and friends, can access patient information, violating data privacy regulations. Another disadvantage is that nurses may use these devices to perform non-work-related activities during shifts. McBride and LeVasseur’s (2017) reported that 18% of nurses use PDD to check or send personal messages, 5% play games, and 2% use their devices to shop during working hours. These behaviors may jeopardize patient safety and result in medical errors.

If I were the agency, I would choose company devices. As the case study indicates, the agency plans to provide cell phones with secure logins. This security measure will ensure that only authorized people can access patients’ records, reducing the data breach risks. Personal devices do not offer the same data security. Mamily and friends may have the passwords to practitioners’ personal cellphones, meaning patients’ data is not safe on these devices. Violating data security and privacy policies has serious consequences, including heavy fines, imprisonment, and psychological harm to patients (Oh & Lee, 2014). Considering these consequences, I prefer company devices to personal devices.

References

Divall, P., Camosso-Stefinovic, J., & Baker, R. (2013). The use of personal digital assistants in clinical decision making by health care professionals: A systematic review. Health Informatics Journal, 19(1), 16–28. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1460458212446761

McBride, D. L., & LeVasseur, S. A. (2017). Personal Communication Device Use by Nurses Providing In-Patient Care: Survey of Prevalence, Patterns, and Distraction Potential. JMIR Human Factors, 4(2), e10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5408133/

Oh, S., & Lee, K. (2014). The Need for Specific Penalties for Hacking in Criminal Law. The Scientific World Journal, 2014, 1–6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4083268/

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