The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) is planning to assist small- and medium-sized medical practices in securing their mobile devices. Â The new project aims to educate providers on security needs and simple methods to safeguard devices which can be easily lost or stolen.
Over three-quarters of physicians are using smartphones or tablets, but many of these practices may not have dedicated IT personnel or a third-party vendor managing and securing the devices. Â The first phase of ONC’s project will offer practical information about security for mobile devices and discuss connecting personal devices to a practice’s network. Â ONC also plans to develop best practices for mobile device security, to be published online in the fall of 2012.
Mobile devices like iPads can be used in conjunction with a Wide Area Network (WAN) to access Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems such as Medisoft Clinical and Lytec MD. Â Healthcare technology consultant Microwize Technology can help.