It was found on the third annual HIMSS Analytics Mobile Survey that usage of mobile and wireless technologies has increased in healthcare facilities.

1. Increased Use of Mobile Technologies by
Healthcare Providers, as per HIMSS
Analytics Mobile Survey
The results of the third Annual HIMSS Analytics Mobile
Survey, which
examined the use
of mobile devices
in provider patient
care improvement
initiatives, were
published in
February 2014 and
it was revealed that
around 83 percent of physicians use mobile technology to
provide patient care. In this survey, the questions were
modified to closely align with the mHIMSS Roadmap, a
strategic framework released at the 2012 mHealth Summit
and updated in 2013 for providers to deploy mobile and
wireless technologies. The Roadmap section includes key
areas on which healthcare organizations should focus while
developing and implementing a mobile strategy.
There are six key areas in the Roadmap section and survey
findings in each area are given below:
• Legal and Policy – Around 59 percent of respondents
said they have a mobile technology plan while 29
percent said they are developing a mobile technology
plan.

2. • Privacy and Security – The survey found around 95
percent use at least one security tool in order to protect
the data on mobile devices.
• New Care Models – Clinicians are most likely to use
mobile technology for patient care by either looking
up patient information or non PHI (personal health
information). Pharmacy management tops among the
providers most likely to use mobile technologies such
as medication reminders or medication reconciliation.
• Technology – More than half of provider respondents
said they would expand the use of medical mobile
applications in future. As per the survey, one-third of
respondents offer apps for patient/consumer use, a 14
percent increase from the previous year. Around 62
percent of respondents said they offer patients access
to at least one of the mobile tools found on the survey
such as patient portals, remote monitoring devices and
telehealth services.
• ROI and Payment – While half of the respondents
said they formally measure ROI related to their mobile
technology investments, one third of respondents said
they evaluate the total cost of ownership as it relates to
their mobile strategy.
• Standards and Interoperability – While 22 percent
of the respondents indicated they could integrate
three-quarters of the data captured by mobile devices

3. into EMR, most respondents were able to access data
from clinical systems through mobile devices. More
than half of the respondents said they receive
alerts/notifications from remote monitoring devices
through EMR/clinical system alert.
Overall, the respondents indicated two top benefits of
having mobile technologies which are:
• Increased access to patient information
• View patient data from a remote location
As per the 2013 Chillmark Research study, big changes in
technology and payment strategies indicate insurance
companies making the most out of mobile technology in
order to improve outreach and market themselves to
potential new post-ACA customers. Thus, the increased use
of mobile technologies among healthcare providers helps
improve their relationship with payers too. However, the
security concerns regarding majority of providers about the
data on mobile devices is a matter of concern. They should
strictly adopt HIPAA compliant medical billing in order
to ensure the security of payment data. Finally, funding
limitation is found to be the top barrier to deployment of
mobile technologies. The survey revealed many providers
are still in the early stages of adoption of mobile
technology.