The concerns of healthcare IT executives trying to meet the demands of supporting consumer-grade computing devices are growing. A study — conducted by BizTechReports and published as a white paper by Panasonic (download here)– found major operational issues for media tablets in healthcare, with 66% of respondents stating consumer tablets create governance challenges for their organizations.
Other concerns include security, durability and electronic medical records(EHR) compliance. The risk management policies are meant to ensure that patients, practitioners and institutions are able to share information and collaborate, while limiting the chances of losing control of critical data. The survey also highlighted the control and remediation mechanisms that allow institutions to rapidly react and recover from unexpected situations that may expose the community of interest to risk. It also noted the productive end-to-end technology frameworks that optimize business processes from the end-point to back-office operation.
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The consumerization phenomenum has created a conundrum for healthcare CIOs and their IT departments, since they are pressured to adopt and integrate new technologies. The study, which is based on responses from 100 executives and senior IT professionals in the healthcare sectors, showed that 74% of respondents said consumer-grade tablets present challenges for entering data into enterprise-grade healthcare applications. Another 66% of participants believe providing technical support on consumer-grade tablets raises IT costs.
The report names the iPad as a tablet which is causing concern. Panasonic’s executive business development manager Greg Davidson noted that consumer-grade technologies, like the iPad and many of the other tablets, were not designed to operate or survive in commercial environments like healthcare.
Reliability and durability proved to be a major point of concern for HIT decision makers. According to the survey, 94% of participants feel that device durability and “ruggedness” are important requirements in hospital and clinical settings.
Related to strategic imperatives, the survey noted the IT organizations in the healthcare industry are strategically tasked with making risk-adjusted decisions about how technology investments can be best deployed to streamline the delivery of effective healthcare services in a
cost-effective manner.
