For most businesses, time is money. No doubt it is. But if there’s one industry where the value of time goes beyond money, it has to be healthcare. In healthcare, time can save or cost lives. Modern healthcare facilities have no time to waste, whether it’s switching between shifts of caregivers or training them on new technologies. Along these lines, what stands out and might be groundbreaking is shared devices for healthcare managed via a SaaS solution like MDM (Mobile Device Management).
Let’s check how shared devices in healthcare are going to pave the way for creating an environment where time is the paramount factor in making it or breaking it.
Shared Devices in Healthcare: An Overview
Android and Windows are the primary operating systems for mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and even many handheld devices in healthcare. Shared devices are owned by healthcare organizations and used mutually among two or multiple staff members like nurses, technicians, doctors and other frontline workers. As healthcare facilities operate daily all day, shared device mode can play a critical role in ensuring minimum disruptions in operations.
Tech heads or sysadmins in healthcare can maximize the numerous benefits of shared devices when these devices are enrolled into an MDM solution. Enrollment is quick and easy, with the option of bulk enrollment as well. Thus, all shared devices are ready to use and up and running in very little time.
Prime Benefits of Shared Devices in Healthcare
Once sysadmins deploy MDM-enrolled shared devices in hospitals, clinics, labs and other related centers, there are many benefits up for grabs—and as discussed above, the pivot is ‘time.’
1. Profile-based Users
An MDM software lets sysadmins create multiple device profiles based on the type of healthcare staff and their needs. For example, all the shared devices for nurses can be added to a specific profile, while for frontline staff, they can create a separate shared device profile. This eliminates any access confusion based on staff roles. Nurses can get on with their caregiving tasks, while frontline staff can focus on the visitors and check-ins/outs.
2. User Switching and Verification
Healthcare services need to be streamlined 24×7. There are multiple shifts involved, and with emergencies lined up, staff can ill afford to waste any time on clumsy log-in processes of shared devices. Here’s MDM at the fore again! Switching between shift workers to access shared devices is a breeze.
A staff member at the start of the shift simply needs to enter email credentials on the shared device, which is verified with an OTP. With an MDM solution, sysadmins can generate automated alerts for a particular logged-in worker nearing the end of their shift. As the predefined shift time is reached, the current user is logged out automatically, and the shared device is ready for the next staff member who follows the same process.
In business, customers are kings or queens, but sometimes, they can wait. In healthcare, it’s about patients. Even a few minutes of needless waiting can be fatal. Thus, quick switching and verification of healthcare staff between shifts mean there are no unnecessary time lags in using shared devices.
3. Content & Application Management
Healthcare sysadmins can leverage an MDM solution to ensure that no staff member is at sea when any critical piece of information is the need of the hour. They can manage the apps and content on shared devices right from a centralized MDM dashboard. Based on the line of work and shift, sysadmins can manage the apps and content that individual users need access to.
The ability to remotely manage apps and content on shared devices helps clear the information clutter. Staff members access only what is required for their job, keeping any other distractions or unwanted content out of the equation. For example, shared devices of the reception staff can only access apps and content pertaining to visitors. For nurses, it’s all about apps and content related to patients.
In addition, MDM software lets sysadmins push content and apps silently into shared devices. After all, you don’t want a nurse to install an app while a patient needs immediate attention. There we are with the value of time.
4. Device Tracking
Shared devices in healthcare are not devices in some amusement parks we are talking about. This is serious business, and thus, every shared device needs constant tracking and monitoring. In short, shared device vitals are perhaps the second most important after patient vitals. With an MDM solution, sysadmins can stay on top of device usage and user behavior patterns.
For example, you don’t want a shared device of a nurse running low on battery just when patient vitals need to be entered before a scheduled surgery. In such cases, sysadmins can set up notifications as per device profiles, alerting the nurse about the low battery status of the shared device.
5. Compliance
We saved the most important aspect for the last. An industry like healthcare is all about regulations and compliances like HIPAA. There is highly confidential data like PHI (protected health information) and EHR (electronic health records) on shared devices in healthcare—any slip-ups, and you know what follows. Let’s not even get there.
Sysadmins managing shared devices in healthcare can ensure that there are no slip-ups whatsoever on the grounds of compliance. A HIPAA-compliant MDM solution like Scalefusion helps sysadmins create the necessary compliance workflows for shared devices. These include passcode compliance when accessing confidential information or data usage compliance. Any deviations can be flagged with immediate effect, and required remediation steps can be taken. Doesn’t the word immediate relate to time?
Scalefusion MDM for Shared Devices in Healthcare
Modern healthcare facilities must stay upbeat round-the-clock. Managing shared devices using an MDM solution is the way forward to ensure healthcare staff is at their productive best. And their productive best, in turn, is all about saving time, which saves lives.
Empower your healthcare sysadmins with the shared device management capabilities of Scalefusion. Contact our experts for a demo, or sign up for a 14-day free trial.
