Mobile Solutions Make the RoundsHow mobile technology can help improve patient care, communication, and security
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Table of contents
INTRODUCTION
3 CHALLENGES AND SPECIFIC NEEDS IN HEALTHCARE
7 MOBILE TECHNOLOGY USE CASES
11 MOBILE SOLUTIONS FROM SAMSUNG
13 EXCEED EXPECTATIONS WITH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY
IntroductionMobile technology has rapidly become a trusted
ally for many medical professionals – making it
easier to care for and communicate with patients,
improving care, streamlining the workday, and
helping improve regulatory compliance. In fact, a
recent study found nearly 90% of respondents are
using mobile devices within their organizations to
engage patients in their healthcare.1
If you’re an IT professional in a busy healthcare
environment, the challenge now isn’t necessarily
getting staff to adopt new technologies, but finding
the combination of solutions and products that
are the right fit, with the specific apps, embedded
features, and security protections that can help
caregivers truly engage and involve patients in their
own health and wellness. This eBook takes you
on the rounds to examine a few use cases where
mobile solutions are just what the doctor ordered.
“Healthcare providers continue to make incredible progress toward more effective, informed and personalized care, and the IT organization has been integral to these successes.”
Healthcare IT News 2
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Patient careThe first and highest calling for any medical
professional is to offer excellent care to patients
and their families. This includes not only diagnosis
and treatment, but strong communication and
close attention to records and data. In a hospital,
this means staff must be able to function both in
high-traffic hallways and crowded patient rooms,
and be able to easily enter admissions data or
access test results to discuss with patients.
Healthcare workers conducting home visits or
working in facilities like nursing homes need to
be able to coordinate care on the go and consult
with physicians and other caregivers in real time
in order to effectively manage treatment plans.
Challenges and Specific Needs in Healthcare
CHAPTER 1
Collaboration and communicationMedical professionals are also trying to streamline
workflows and manage communications within
the workplace itself. A single hospital can offer
a range of diverse specialties, house a whole
community of employees, and treat hundreds of
thousands of patients over the course of a year.
In this fast-paced, complex environment, printed
or handwritten materials – even critical ones like
doctors’ notes – can quickly become outdated
or drop by the wayside.
Yet it’s critical for medical teams to be able to easily
share patient information and transfer it seamlessly
between facilities. And healthcare staff needs to stay
current on a whole separate range of information,
from hospital policies and events to continuing
education and training.
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CostsProviding state-of-the-art medical care and facilities
also means incurring expenses, and healthcare
professionals are tightly focused on keeping these
operational costs down. For administrators, the
task involves reducing fees, lab and diagnostic
costs, and the costs associated with treating
and managing chronic disease. IT departments
need effective ways to reduce everything from IT
management and support needs to equipment
purchases and maintenance, power consumption,
and printing expenses.
Security and regulatory complianceIn 2014, 42% of all serious data breaches happened
in healthcare – and the FBI forecasts that half of all
healthcare organizations will experience at least one
cyber attack in 2015.2
Physicians, administrators and staff must also
comply with the requirements of the Affordable Care
Act (ACA), including the need to adopt and maintain
Electronic Health Records (EHR) – as well as any
number of other state and federal regulations.
These two factors create intense pressure to keep
patient data up-to-date, accessible and secure –
a need that’s complicated by the way staff moves
from patient to patient and sometimes between
facilities throughout the day. It also means that
any device that goes along on those rounds must
be kept tightly locked down – while still being
easy to carry and use.
Given these overlapping and sometimes conflicting demands, it might be easy to wonder if introducing new technology into such a complex environment would only complicate it further. However, the right mix of mobile devices, virtualization, and networking can combine and simplify many of the tasks healthcare workers tackle daily. Here are a few examples in which mobile technology is the right prescription.
Mobile Devices Virtualization
Networking
Serious Data Breaches in 20142
Healthcare 42% All data breaches
0 50 100
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Supporting skilled caregiving (tablets)
In large senior living facilities, care providers visiting
residents need fast, efficient ways to collect health
data and update patient records in real time, right
at the point of care. A small mobile device such as
a smartphone or tablet preloaded with healthcare
apps and sensors makes it possible to perform
these tasks with ease from any location. Caregivers
can monitor and record vital signs – either by hand,
using an embedded USB sensor in the tablet, or
from the patient’s wearable device – and record
them in the moment rather than at the end of shifts,
ensuring that records are accurate and complete.
An additional benefit of this approach is such
devices can be secured and controlled remotely,
further protecting sensitive patient data and
increasing compliance.
Mobile Technology Use Cases
CHAPTER 2
“Imagine a world where these types of amazing remote patient examination tools, sensors, and apps are available to everyone, everywhere—to patients and parents, the young and the old, at home and on-the-go.”
Ron Gutman, founder and CEO of HealthTap 3
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Simplifying dictation (virtualization and zero-clients)
Another healthcare challenge is the need to adopt
EHR requirements in a way that keeps data safe
and doctors on schedule. Using technology seems
like an obvious solution here, but there are still a few
issues to consider. Traditional computer-on-wheels
setups (COWs) and even laptops have proved bulky
and difficult to use in high-traffic patient rooms.
Mobile devices are far more portable, but physicians
have found it difficult to fully integrate dictation
software on some mobile devices, and often return
in frustration to manually entering handwritten notes
at the end of their rounds.
A better solution is running critical applications in
the cloud and securely accessing them through
zero-client displays installed in patient rooms and
at hallway stations. Physicians can log in anywhere,
anytime to give dictation on a consistent interface.
They also minimize the risk of leaving confidential
information behind on the device, because all data
is securely stored in the data center.
This is no small concern, given that a recent
report shows three cases where hospitals were
breached through medical devices, including a
communications system used to share diagnostic
imaging records with patients.4 Zero-client displays
have no installed software or operating system,
which means they can’t be hacked, they consume
less power, and they require far less support from IT.
Virtualization can also be used for bedside
computer access to verify that patients are taking
the right medications at the right dosages. It
becomes increasingly powerful when zero clients
are linked through the cloud to digital diagnostic
imaging devices and can quickly download tests,
scans, and other lab results right to the patient’s
room – or smartphone.
Creating better signage (digital displays)
What about a hospital that’s still relying on
traditional printed signs and bulletin boards to
communicate with thousands of patients and
employees? Information is likely to become
outdated fast, and hallways and rooms can seem
cluttered and uninviting. But if hospitals replace
these outdated materials with integrated LED
displays, they could offer personalized information
and engaging content in patient rooms, provide
wayfinding stations near elevators, install digital
bulletin boards in staff lounges, and even offer
daily menus in cafeterias. In the process, they
create a modern, friendly atmosphere, with content
that engages patients and their families. On the
administrative side, it’s easy to centrally update,
manage, and coordinate information across the
entire facility – freeing up busy staff, saving energy,
and lowering printing costs.
Navigating conferences (tablet apps)
Consider the challenge of hosting a huge annual
medical symposium. Participants must be able to
find their way around and select the most useful
presentations, but lugging around the conference
catalog and other materials can become an
endurance event. If they’re on tablets, however,
each participant can preload them with all the
information, links, and apps they need to create
schedules, connect with colleagues, receive CE
credits for sessions, and even view live streams
and ask questions in real time. This solution could
also enable the conference to go paperless and
lower printing costs.
DOCTOR’S OFFICEPATIENT’S BEDSIDE
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Mobile Solutions from Samsung
CHAPTER 3
When you’re ready to select mobile technology to fit your unique healthcare environment,
Samsung offers a wide range of integrated mobile solutions to help care for patients,
streamline workflows, lower costs, and increase security and compliance.
Samsung Galaxy Tablets and Smartphones
Lightweight, compact, and powerful mobile devices that provide
easy, secure access to patient data and integrated medical
applications, sensors, and scanners
Zero-Client Technology
Displays and tablets that offer secure access to patient records and
a consistent software experience, with no attack surface and little or
no need for IT support
Digital Signage Solutions
Ultra-thin cloud displays and video walls to show and manage
customized content across multiple locations, with an embedded open
player side platform that eliminates the need for external media players
Samsung KNOX™ technology
A defense-grade mobile security platform built into Galaxy devices that
provides security at the hardware, OS, and application levels
Diagnostic Imaging
Ultrasound machines, portable CT and SPECT scanners, and
patient-friendly X-ray systems that offer real-time, portable
accuracy and security
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As IT professionals supporting healthcare
environments know, it’s hard to imagine anyone
who spends more time on their feet than healthcare
professionals – and today they face more demands
from more directions than ever. Patients expect and
deserve excellent care, fast results, and thoughtful
collaboration from their caregivers. Regulators
want to make sure confidential patient records are
accessible, well maintained, and safely secured
from prying eyes. And administrators need to run a
successful and profitable business that can endure
well into the future.
IT professionals can help caregivers meet and
exceed these expectations by embarking on a
thoughtful technology makeover that puts mobile
devices and apps right in the hands of the people
who need them – helping them to improve care,
connect with patients and colleagues, and make the
day-to-day practice of medicine easier and smarter.
LEARN MORE
About Samsung BusinessAs a global leader in enterprise mobility and information technology, Samsung Business
provides a diverse portfolio of enterprise technologies including smartphones, wearables,
tablets, digital displays, hospitality TVs, zero clients, printers and medical diagnostic equipment.
We are committed to putting the business customer at the core of everything we do by
delivering comprehensive products, solutions and services across diverse industries including
retail, healthcare, hospitality, education and government. For more information, please visit
samsung.com/business or follow Samsung Business via Twitter @SamsungBizUSA.
Sources1 “Mobile Technology Upgrades Continue to Impact Healthcare Engagement,” HIMSS, April 2015. http://www.himss.org/News/
NewsDetail.aspx?ItemNumber=415202 “Top 5 health IT trends for 2015: What’s top of mind?” Healthcare IT News, January 2015. http://www.healthcareitnews.com/
blog/top-5-health-it-trends-2015-whats-top-mind3 “10 Ways Mobile Is Transforming Health Care,” The Guardian, June 2014. http://www.businessinsider.com/10-ways-mobile-is-
transforming-health-care-2014-64 “How mobile tech can transform health care,” Fortune, September 2013. http://fortune.com/2013/09/25/how-mobile-tech-
can-transform-health-care/5 “Hospital Medical Devices Used As Weapons In Cyberattacks,” Dark Reading, June 2015. http://www.darkreading.com/
vulnerabilities---threats/hospital-medical-devices-used-as-weapons-in-cyberattacks/d/d-id/1320751
Exceed expectations with mobile technology
Twitter: @SamsungBizUSA
Blog: insights.samsung.com
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