The natural progression from hospital-owned devices to BYOD programs is due to the rising adoption of mobile technology. Allowing healthcare staff to bring their own devices to work and utilize them for professional purposes has provided a flexible and cost-effective solution to the industry’s evolving needs.
The lack of mobility of hospital-owned devices led to healthcare workers using personal mobile devices for work. For instance, instead of waiting for a hospital-owned device to be available, nurses ordered tests or described a patient’s progress over SMS on their mobile devices. This led to the risk of Shadow IT.
A robust Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution is crucial for giving IT teams complete control over BYO devices in healthcare and keeping them fully informed of actions performed on these devices.
In this blog, we will understand the concept of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy in the healthcare industry, its purpose, its challenges, and how to implement it to achieve maximum device efficiency and protection.
What is BYOD in Healthcare?
According to IBM, BYOD or bring your own device in healthcare refers to the policy that allows healthcare professionals to use their devices—such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops—to access company resources and applications.
BYOD policy has been gaining popularity in the healthcare industry due to its potential to balance convenience with strict restrictions. It enables healthcare professionals to use familiar devices while improving efficiency, flexibility, and patient care.
BYOD enables medical staff to access patient records, such as medical history, diagnosis, and prognosis reports, communicate reliably with colleagues, and use specialized medical apps instantly from their devices. This capability is particularly beneficial in critical environments like hospitals and emergency rooms, where timely access to information can significantly impact patient outcomes. For example, a doctor could instantly retrieve a patient’s history or test results on their phone or tablet during a consultation, leading to more informed and efficient care.
The shift to personal devices is part of a broader digital transformation within the healthcare industry, where technology plays a crucial role in enhancing healthcare processes and outcomes. Tools such as Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Personal Health Records (PHRs), telehealth devices, remote monitoring technologies, and mobile health (mHealth) applications have revolutionized patient care and healthcare delivery.
Benefits of BYOD Policies in Healthcare
Healthcare BYOD policy serves the following benefits :
1. Lowers the high distribution cost: The cost associated with distributing hospital-owned devices to the entire workforce is expensive. Providing each healthcare professional with a dedicated device is financially burdensome. BYOD policies lower this cost by allowing healthcare professionals and executives to use their devices for work.
2. Addresses the problems with shared devices: The need to share devices among multiple healthcare providers, such as physicians working different shifts, posed operational inefficiencies. This sharing often led to issues such as delays in accessing patient data and device unavailability during critical times. Using personal devices prevents such issues and improves access to patient data and devices.
3. Enhances remote access to data: The inability to access patient data outside of hospital premises hindered the ability to seek expert medical opinions from specialists or monitor patient progress remotely. This limitation became increasingly problematic as the demand for remote consultations and real-time patient monitoring grew. BYOD policies enable doctors to address their patients’ issues remotely.
However, implementing BYOD in healthcare comes with significant challenges, primarily related to security and compliance.
Challenges Associated with BYOD in Healthcare
1. Data Breach
A typical BYO device at a hospital contains information about a patient’s medical history, current condition, medications and treatment, lab test data, radiology images, etc. Employees often access this data to maintain smooth treatment or to gather an expert opinion. However, this data is susceptible to malware attacks and phishing scams. Furthermore, sensitive patient data can be available to unauthorized users, which can lead to data breaches.
2. Network Threats
With no restrictions on network connections, healthcare professionals can connect their devices to unauthenticated Wi-Fi networks, which can lead to man-in-the-middle attacks. In these attacks, malicious actors can intercept and potentially alter communications between the device and the network, putting sensitive patient information at risk. Additionally, personal devices are more susceptible to attacks from third-party apps that employees may download.
3. Device Theft
Unlike company-issued devices, personal devices are often used in various environments outside of the workplace, increasing the likelihood of being lost or stolen. If a device containing sensitive healthcare information falls into the wrong hands, it could result in data breaches and significant legal and financial repercussions for a healthcare organization.
4. Compliance Issues
All patient-sensitive data on a healthcare employee device is susceptible to misuse in case of data loss. Unsecured data can lead to violations of certain compliance laws. For example, in the United States, patient data is termed Protected health information (PHI). A data breach on a BYO device potentially violates the HIPAA—Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
By being non-compliant with HIPAA, healthcare organizations are subject to monetary penalties of up to $250,000, imprisonment of up to 5 years, criminal and civil lawsuits, and reputational damage[1].
5. Device Management
Adopting BYOD in healthcare presents significant challenges for IT departments, primarily in managing and securing personal devices that are not under their direct control. One major concern is ensuring all devices are updated, secure, and completely managed. Additionally, IT departments must ensure sensitive data is not accessed over unsecured networks or from unauthorized locations.
Ensuring compliance with HIPAA regulations requires rigorous monitoring and tracking of all data accessed or transmitted on these devices. This process can be time-consuming and complex, often necessitating advanced tools and continuous oversight. The diversity of devices and operating systems adds another layer of complexity, as inconsistent security measures can lead to vulnerabilities and potential data breaches.
How to Implement BYOD Policy in Healthcare
Implementing a BYOD policy in healthcare requires careful planning and preparation to ensure patient data remains secure. Here are some best practices while implementing a BYOD policy:
1. Create a Clear BYOD Policy
Developing a clear and concise BYOD policy is essential to ensure all team members understand what is expected of them. The policy should outline:
- Who can use their own devices, and for what purposes?
- What types of data can be accessed from personal devices, and what is off-limits?
- Specific security requirements for personal devices.
2. Identify Potential Security Risks
Healthcare organizations must be vigilant in detecting and mitigating possible security risks associated with BYOD. Key steps include:
- Identifying rogue mobile devices.
- Securing wireless networks, data, and internal networks from online attacks.
- Protecting and segregating administrative systems from end-users who do not need data access.
3. Implement a Mobile Device Management (MDM) Solution
MDM enables IT admins of healthcare organizations to create separate containers for personal and professional data, protecting employee privacy without compromising security. This approach separates work-related information from personal data, ensuring no data can be shared from work to personal container. Additionally, by deploying specific apps across all devices, MDM ensures healthcare staff have instant access to the necessary tools and applications, facilitating a more efficient workflow. This empowers employees to perform their duties more effectively while maintaining robust security measures.
With robust MDM software, healthcare organizations can enforce security policies such as encryption, passcodes, and remote data wipe capabilities to protect sensitive information. This safeguards patient data on BYO devices against unauthorized access and data breaches, particularly in scenarios where devices are lost or stolen. A mobile device management solution helps healthcare organizations mitigate risks and ensure the confidentiality and integrity of patient data, driving compliance with industry regulations like HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
BYOD Security in Healthcare with Scalefusion
BYOD environments in hospitals come with their own set of challenges that can be effectively nullified by integrating a powerful MDM solution like Scalefusion. Implementing a strong BYOD policy through Scalefusion results in better healthcare services, round-the-clock connectivity between patients and medical staff, and less turnaround time in decision-making.
Scalefusion MDM can help hospitals and healthcare institutions to remotely manage their BYO devices by enforcing comprehensive and robust policies, ensuring user privacy as well as corporate data security.
To know more call our experts to book a demo and start your 14-day free trial today!
References
1. Sprinto
