Smartphone Use for Patient Photography by Plastic Surgery Trainees

Abstract

Medical photography has become essential to patient care, trainee education, and research in highly visual specialties such as plastic surgery. As smartphone technology advances, plastic surgeons and trainees are using their personal smartphones to take medical photographs prompting ethical and legal concerns about patient consent and privacy. This study aims to determine the prevalence of personal smartphone use for patient photography among plastic surgery trainees, evaluate encryption practices, and establish understanding of current guidelines. Through a survey of 71 plastic surgery trainees throughout the United States, we show that 99% use their personal cell phone to take medical photographs while only 65% use HIPAA-compliant photo storage applications, and only 49% are aware of standard guidelines. This highlights that personal smartphone use among plastic surgery trainees is ubiquitous and there is a need for additional education and access to HIPAA-compliant photo storage applications.

Letter re: The Implications of Physician Smartphone Usage Toward Patient Privacy Violations

“…We commend the efforts of Veith et al 1 on looking at the prevalence of surgeons using personal smartphone devices to capture images that can easily be shared with the patient or others for consultation. Results showcase that 99% of the respondents reported documenting patient information on their smartphones often.…”