Medical Professionals and Smartphone Applications

Abstract

Ever since the advent of Smartphones, Smartphone applications (SAs) are revolutionizing the contemporary medicine. Smartphone application which was created in view of swift communications among the general public has now intruded the medical fraternity. But the ethics for using these applications to transfer patients' medical records through SA is bewildering among the medical professionals (MPs).

Ethics of Smartphone Usage for Medical Image Sharing

“…However, there are certain circumstances, including emergency situations, where doctors must instead act in the best interests of their patient, and it would be interesting to see the original survey questions and whether this scenario was caveated. Consent typically covers details of the procedure, risks, and benefits among other things, and it is interesting to note that nearly 10% of medical practitioners in the study responded yes to Bdo not know what is encryption^ [2]. This suggests an incomplete understanding on the medical practitioner side about the extent of the risks of sharing unencrypted information, highlighting a need for additional training about these risks before seeking consent.…”

“…In 2016, there were 2.1 billion smartphone users worldwide, with this number projected to exceed 2.8 billion by 2020 [1]. Arunagiri et al [2] provide an interesting insight into the perceptions of medical practitioners working in India, correctly postulating that smartphones can revolutionize the delivery of healthcare. It is encouraging that the power of technology is being leveraged to improve quality of care through opinion sharing.…”