Tran Kim, Morra Dante, Lo Vivian, Quan Sherman D, Abrams Howard, Wu Robert C
University Health Network, Centre for Innovation in Complex Care, Toronto, ON, Canada.
J Med Internet Res. 2014 May 22;16(5):e132. doi: 10.2196/jmir.3138.
Smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in health care settings. The increased adoption of mobile technology such as smartphones may be attributed to their use as a point-of-care information source and to perceived improvements in clinical communication and efficiency. However, little is known about medical students' use of personal smartphones for clinical work.
The intent of the study was to examine final-year medical students' experience with and attitudes toward using personal mobile technology in the clinical environment, with respect to the perceived impact on patient confidentiality and provider professionalism.
Cross-sectional surveys were completed by final-year medical students at the University of Toronto. Respondents were asked about the type of personal mobile phone they use, security features on their personal phone, experiences using their personal phone during clinical rotations, and attitudes about using their personal phone for clinical work purposes.
The overall response rate was 45.4% (99/218). Smartphone ownership was prevalent (98%, 97/99) with the majority (86%, 85/99) of participants using their personal phones for patient-related communication during clinical rotations. A total of 26% (26/99) of participants reported not having any type of security feature on their personal phone, 94% (90/96) of participants agreed that using their personal phone for clinical work makes them more efficient, and 86% (82/95) agreed that their personal phone allows them to provide better patient care. Although 68% (65/95) of participants believe that the use of personal phones for patient-related communication with colleagues poses a risk to the privacy and confidentiality of patient health information, 22% (21/96) of participants still use their personal phone to text or email identifiable patient data to colleagues.
Our findings suggest that the use of personal smartphones for clinical work by medical students is prevalent. There is a need to more fully address the threat to patient confidentiality posed by the use of unsecured communication devices such as smartphones.
智能手机在医疗环境中越来越普遍。智能手机等移动技术的使用增加，可能归因于它们作为即时医疗信息源的用途，以及人们认为它们改善了临床沟通和效率。然而，对于医学生在临床工作中使用个人智能手机的情况，我们了解得很少。
本研究旨在考察即将毕业的医学生在临床环境中使用个人移动技术的体验和态度，以及对患者隐私和医疗人员专业素养的潜在影响。
多伦多大学即将毕业的医学生完成了横断面调查。受访者被问及他们使用的个人手机类型、个人手机的安全功能、在临床轮转期间使用个人手机的经历，以及对将个人手机用于临床工作目的的态度。
总体回复率为45.4%（99/218）。智能手机的拥有率很高（98%，97/99），大多数参与者（86%，85/99）在临床轮转期间使用个人手机进行与患者相关的沟通。共有26%（26/99）的参与者报告称其个人手机没有任何安全功能，94%（90/96）的参与者同意使用个人手机进行临床工作使他们效率更高，86%（82/95）的参与者同意个人手机使他们能够提供更好的患者护理。尽管68%（65/95）的参与者认为使用个人手机与同事进行与患者相关的沟通会对患者健康信息的隐私和保密性构成风险，但仍有22%（21/96）的参与者使用个人手机向同事发送可识别患者数据的短信或电子邮件。
我们的研究结果表明，医学生在临床工作中使用个人智能手机的情况很普遍。有必要更全面地应对使用智能手机等无安全保障的通信设备对患者隐私造成的威胁。
