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The same goes for when he goes off on a trip. To properly field their questions, he has to have easy access to documents.

He routinely gets calls from patients or counsel while he’s relaxing at home. He’s shifting gears constantly, serving as the medical director for a health system, an associate professor and a forensic psychiatric consultant for criminal cases. I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a forensic psychiatrist, who told me that his devices were the only way he could get all his work done. More and more healthcare providers are becoming reliant on mobile devices to perform their day-to-day tasks, but this doesn’t have to imply a security problem. The liabilities are far greater when a practice has not been clear about expectations around technology. Like it or not, this failure on the employee’s part falls on the practice. Moreover, it might not even occur to him that he needs to report it, which means it will take even longer for the practice to stem the bleeding. He’s far less likely to have a way to remotely wipe or block the device without the institutional support around BYOD. He also wants to be able to access patient charts on the go and at home, and the perfect way to do that is through a mobile device.īut if this junior doctor’s device gets lost, it’s not clear what his next steps should be. Often, company-provisioned devices are so restrictive that they nearly defeat the entire purpose of mobile work. The junior doctor’s alternative is a clunky and old hospital-sanctioned laptop that’s so restrictive and slow that he ends up spending hours doing simple tasks. Why would he act in such an insecure way? We’ve discussed the appeal of BYOD to institutions, but it’s critical to consider the individual perspective. After all, institutions can’t lock up things they aren’t aware pose risks.Ĭonsider the following behavior pattern: A junior doctor downloads information – or even just possesses emails – that contained PHI to his laptop, but he didn’t inform his superiors. That’s an even bigger risk that comes with the failure to implement BYOD policies. With thousands of files being pushed to every single device, it takes a single misplaced smartphone or tablet to cause a HIPAA breach of catastrophic proportions.Įven scarier? Not knowing a device that contained PHI was lost. Healthcare professionals in a medical practice are syncing thousands of files that contain personal health information (PHI) to their laptops, tablets and phones. Combined with the broader proliferation of devices and connectivity, there’s a greater expectation than ever to take work home, or at least be accessible from anywhere.Ĭonsider a scenario I see all the time. Doing two jobs is becoming the norm rather than the exception, amplifying the opportunities for mistakes. In some practices, nurses are wearing multiple hats as administrators and scrubbing in to assist in outpatient surgeries. Practically speaking, that means clinical and administrative staff are using all the tools at their disposal to get things done. There’s more pressure on medical professionals than ever before to deliver quality care to a high volume of patients. It might seem counterintuitive, but the real way to control BYOD threats is to embrace the trend. Given that most breaches these days are caused by human error, like lost or stolen mobile devices, practices need to take steps to properly sanction and control personal devices with BYOD plans. This hesitation is costly.Ĭertain IT administrators would prefer to ignore the growing appeal of BYOD – as if turning a blind eye could help mitigate threats.

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According to a 2013 survey by consulting firm The Advisory Board Company, approximately one-third of healthcare organizations embrace clinicians bringing their own devices, another third are working to restrict BYOD and the rest are figuring out how to address the issue. Medical professionals aren’t responding to the growing threat fast enough. The proliferation of mobile devices into the healthcare industry only accelerates this trend. Scan the Health and Human Services’ Breach Notification List and you’ll see that more than half of the incidents reported involve the theft of unencrypted devices. BYOD also cuts down on IT procurement and maintenance costs, because the gear is employee-owned.īut permitting BYOD isn’t so simple. On one hand, BYOD allows healthcare providers to be more efficient and deliver better care – which should be the goal above all. The healthcare industry finds itself at a bit of a crossroads when it comes to weighing policies around BYOD, or bring-your-own-device, trends.