Mobile Devices Utilization in Healthcare Environment (Essay Sample)

Mobile Devices Utilization in Healthcare Environment
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Introduction
In the modern world, there has been a rapid proliferation of mobile devices utilization in healthcare environment. Healthcare workers use their mobile devices such as smartphones and a tablet to access health care applications that gives them a chance to deliver their services from wherever is needed. This, therefore, has improved the mobility of healthcare workers. Consumerization of mobile devices uses the cloud computing technology as a model of communication. Cloud computing facilitates anytime, anywhere access to healthcare data. Cloud computing technologies that is commonly used is the form of electronic health record (EHR) software as a service (SaaS) which is an enterprise that offers healthcare cloud services (Shoniregun , C A., Dube K. & Mtenzi 2010).
Benefits of mobile device and cloud computing
The utilization of smartphones and tablets in delivering healthcare to patients has incredibly improved the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency and presumably reduced the healthcare costs as well. In addition, its adoption has stepped up the user experience of health workers and has massively improved the productivity, flexibility and job satisfaction. Healthcare personnel can flexibly and comfortably offer health care services wherever they are needed.
The implementation of cloud computing has stepped up scalability and agility, and this has, further, cut down the health care costs. For instance, EHR SaaS facilitates fast startup and seamless scalability that has allowed healthcare institutions to focus on service delivery rather than Information technology. Health care organizations have also embraced pay-as-you go model with ample scalability in cloud computing (Zielinski , Duplaga & Ingram 2007 ).
Security Risks
Nonetheless, the Consumerization of mobile devices and cloud computing in healthcare organization has its own disadvantages despite a myriad of advantages it bears. The anytime, anywhere access to healthcare sensitive data makes it arduous to implement the traditional security measures. Cloud computing technology facilitates moves sensitive data away from healthcare organization to datacenter of the cloud providers that are located in various parts around the globe. Cloud computing is a purely network resource and is subject to attack by adversaries thereby interfering with the data integrity, and confidentiality (Shoniregun , C A., Dube K. & Mtenzi 2010).
Moreover, personal mobile devices are less managed as compared to an organization’s assets where periodic care, maintenance and audits are carried to ascertain their validity. Individuals install personal apps, exchange emails and engage in web searching activities using their mobile handsets thereby posing a risk of malware infection. A person even emails sensitive data over security prone emailing service and thus gets exposed to insecurity situation. A study by the National Science Foundation of China identified types of viruses that attack mobile devices, particularly, smartphones. Some of the viruses include Cabir, Brador, Commwarrior and Skull. These viruses attack smartphones through their communications interfaces and transmit their data through Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPRS. Nevertheless, the virus spread can be managed by mobile phone user movements, and reduction of carriage signal strength. The smartphones continue to face threats of being attacked due to lack of installation of appropriate antivirus programs (Zielinski , Duplaga & Ingram 2007).
The use of personal applications that were made with scant of security measures at hand, often run on personal mobile devices. If these devices are again used by healthcare operators to store sensitive data and access healthcare services a risk is posed on the data integrity, confidentiality and data availability.
Best Practices for insecurity mitigation
Best Practices for Information Security healthcare organizations have not failed to act regarding these insecurity issues discussed. Ideally, healthcare organizations have adopted the preventive approach to purge out insecurity incidences. For instance, these organizations have engaged in the identification of associated security risks and privacy and mitigating those risks by application of safeguard before a real occurrence of the incidence (Zielinski , Duplaga & Ingram 2007).
Regular assessments
Regular risk assessment offers a proactive tool and method of managing risk and improves the security and privacy practices of a healthcare organization to track rapidly transforming threat landscape. Risk assessments facilitate objective and prioritized funding for security and privacy practices in a manner the lowers business risk. The assessments also issue a measured approach that sidelines security and privacy so that it becomes of less concern regarding budgetary plan for healthcare organization. Risk assessment is on the increase with focus on the healthcare data which has enabled consistent and objective prioritization of risks. For instance, with the deployment of new risk assessments tools such as Intel Anti-theft Laptop Risk tool has been of massive importance in quick risk assessments (Shoniregun , C A., Dube K. & Mtenzi 2010).
In addition, employment of a healthcare compute continuum with a focus of improving health care has been of significance as well. A mobile client continuum is made of numerous mobile devices ranging from smartphones to tablets. These are the mobile equipment that doctors use to access sensitive data and healthcare applications. As a scenario of what often happens, a doctor may receive an alert regarding a patient’s emergency on his smartphone, move around the clinics and, eventually, consult a specialist by video conferencing using a laptop.
Risk mitigation using mobile computer models demands healthcare organizations to pay attention to reservation of sensitive information confidentiality as well as protection of sensitive information integrity and availability. Urgent patient care is solely dependent on reliable and timely access to a patient’s record. In addition, mobile healthcare medicine is dependent on the electronic patent’s record integrity. For relevant decisions to be made regarding patient care, the information communicated elect...