Pros
1. Streamlining Communication
One of the significant contributions made by smartphones in healthcare is streamlining communication. Streamlining communication allows everything to be put in order. In healthcare, access to information and then reaching out to the right people accordingly at the right time is very important. Since smartphones now are like personal computers that you can carry, it can do almost everything for you.
2. Access to information
As already mentioned above, carrying a smartphone around is like carrying the world around with you because you know that everything is available with just one touch. Doctors and hospital staff, wherever they are have access to this information in a split second. They can also use mobile tools like DCM viewer free for quick results. Also, they can easily get information from outside regarding procedures, medication and dosage etc.
3. Improving Practices
With evolving time, health care applications have made it to smartphones and it doesn’t stop there. There is literally an ocean of applications out there that serve different purposes including DCM viewer free tools.
Other than using free web based DICOM viewer for medical data viewing, healthcare applications allow hospital staff to self-educate themselves about patient management, time management, medical education and training etc. Even if such applications are not available, the hospital staff can write important things down on notepads of smartphones to avoid missing out on any information.
Cons
1. Dividing Attention
Smartphones can easily divide and distract our attention. Unfortunately, while smartphones provide the biggest advantage, they also at the same time prove to be the devil’s advocate. Night shifts at hospitals bring operations to a slow pace. Hospital staff can feel bored and in order to entertain themselves can use smartphones. This could actually result in distracting them from performing certain duties. While providing half attention to the phone and half to the patients, the hospital staff can put a lot of information at risk, by failing to note important information, misguiding the patients and failing to respond in a quick manner.
2. Ignoring Protocols
The need to check your smartphone frequently is like voluntarily putting yourselves at risk. One may feel the need to check out their phones every once in a while for messages and notifications at the cost of ignoring some protocols. Hospitals do not work on “just a minute” principle. Underestimating certain protocols to keep a check on your phone may lead to serious consequences. Instead of tending to the patient, prioritizing checking your phone can create a serious problem within a matter of seconds.
3. Threat to Personal Information
Smart phones used by doctors and hospital staff contain a lot of personal information. In case of a smartphone being stolen, it can pose a serious threat to both the patient and his/her personal information. Connecting your device to unsecured networks could also lead to potential hacking.
4. Negative Impact
Studies have shown that nurses do not realize when their work performance is affected. Nurses and hospital staff may not realize it, but it can easily become noticed by colleagues. One may be of the view that everything is going on in the same routinely manner while missing out on certain things, especially standards and protocols putting both patient’s life and one’s career at risk.
