Apps proliferate amid concerns about medical use
EXPERT ANALYSIS FROM THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS
Various screen replicators that allow you to remotely access your computer desktop from your mobile device (such as ones by Citrix, or Splashtop Remote Desktop) all have the same problem, Dr. Broder said – they’re too clunky and not "touchscreen friendly."
And one final word on an underappreciated perk of medical apps on smartphones: When your medical director stops by, wanting to talk about your productivity, pull out your smartphone to show the data you’ve entered about patient encounters in your free iRVU app, which calculates total RVUs, charges, and average charge per encounter, among other features.
This list only begins to scratch the surface of app use in medicine. Other apps are available for immunization schedules, dictation, infectious disease guides, and teaching aids. Journals provide content to portable devices through apps, and some medical societies offer multifaceted apps such as ACEP Mobile.
Apps on smartphones and tablets will become part of daily medical practice, Dr. Broder predicted, but physicians need to be conscious about their limitations and potential problems as well as their assets.
Click here to view a video interview with Dr. Broder.
Dos and Don’ts for Medical Images on Smartphones
Do:
Obtain consent to acquire images or transmit them for the patient’s medical benefit.
Explain to the patient and get consent for any other intended use, such as education or publication.
Tell the patient what you will do with images when their use is completed – delete them or upload them to the medical record.
Confirm receipt if you send to other health care providers.
Specify in your message what that provider should do with the image.
Document in the patient’s chart that consent was obtained, what was sent, who received it, and content of the images.
Don’t:
Obtain images covertly.
Send to any unnecessary recipients.
Show images to anyone for fun.
Post to social media sites.
Blog about "funny" patient encounters.
Dr. Broder owns stock in Apple.
