For the report — titled, “2012 Mobile Applications: Can Enterprise Vendors Keep Up?” — KLAS surveyed more than 100 health care providers about their use of mobile devices to access patient data.
According to the report, seven out of 10 surveyed health care organizations said that their electronic health record system is accessible through mobile devices. Of those respondents:
94% said that their EHR system is accessible via Apple mobile devices;
49% said that their EHR system is accessible via Android mobile devices; and
44% said that their EHR system is accessible via Microsoft mobile devices.
When asked about the types of security methods they use to protect patient data on mobile devices:
52% of respondents cited virtualization software that prevents data from being stored directly on a mobile device;
43% cited encryption; and
35% cited mobile device management.
However, respondents said they encountered several challenges to using mobile devices to access patient data, such as:
Difficulty inputting information;
Limited functionality; and
Device displays that are not properly configured for mobile devices (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 10/27).