KLAS: Data security is top concern for mobile devices

Securing patient data is a primary concern associated with the increased use of mobile devices, according to a survey of more than 100 providers conducted by market research firm KLAS.

The 2012 Mobile Applications: Can Enterprise Vendors Keep Up? report indicated that healthcare organizations also are concerned about how they manage and track all of those different devices with increasing numbers of clinicians using their own personal mobile devices to access patient data.

"With the increased use of personal mobile devices in healthcare becoming more prevalent, providers are very concerned about controlling what data is accessed, where it is stored and how the data can be protected," said report author Erik Westerlind in a release. "In addition, providers say that virtualization, encryption and mobile device management applications are among the main solutions to combat some of these security concerns."

Virtualization software that presents clinical information on a mobile device but keeps the data from being stored on the device is the most commonly used security method, as reported by 52 percent of respondents. Encryption (43 percent) and mobile device management (35 percent) are other commonly used methods, along with relying on security measures built into individual mobile applications. However, even while utilizing multiple security measures, providers are still wary of the mobile environment in healthcare and are looking for a greater sense of security from their clinical vendors.

Survey respondents also named the difficulty or inability to input documentation, lack of optimization, limited functionality and device displays that may be too small or are not configured to show critical patient information as challenges. Providers report that inputting data using a mobile device is difficult, and while most mobile applications score high usability ratings, they typically do not allow for data input-a crucial function for clinicians. In addition, providers are concerned that not all of the important patient information is being displayed due to the limitations of the form factor or the application view not being built to display all the needed information.

Seven out of 10 provider organizations are using mobile devices to access their EHR. Nearly every major EHR vendor has customers in this report accessing data via a mobile device. The vast majority (94 percent) of respondents said they are using Apple devices, with Android and Microsoft in second and third place, at 49 percent and 44 percent, respectively.

Access the full report on the KLAS website.