7 Key Opportunities for Solution Providers to Support Mobility in Health IT

In an increasingly “anytime, anywhere” world, healthcare cannot be confined to a doctor’s office or hospital room. As mobile technologies have become more user-friendly, affordable and powerful, the appeal to businesses of all types, including healthcare providers, grows exponentially. New devices, new form factors, new apps and new methods of connectivity have pushed mHealth to the forefront of IT industry trends.

CompTIA’s 3^rd Annual HIT Insights and Opportunities study found one in four healthcare providers rate implementing or improving the use mobile technologies a high priority. A clear majority (61%) of IT firms in the HIT space believe that the transition to mobile solutions is a net positive development for their business.

Our data shows that the user base of mobile devices is largest for the well- established product category covering laptop PCs and netbooks. Data also points to increasing adoption of smartphones by those in the healthcare sector with more than half currently using a smartphone for work purposes. The increasing popularity of tablets is also notable with almost 50 percent indicating that they currently use or will begin to use tablets at their practice. As with smartphones there is greater adoption of tablets in the healthcare space.

IT firms in the HIT space acknowledge that tablets and smartphones have and will continue to affect the PC market, the long-time bedrock for many IT solution provider businesses. Data from other CompTIA studies on the use of mobile devices still points to a landscape of complementary use rather than full scale PC replacement.

An important part of gaining the most value from mobile devices like tablets and smartphones is the availability of quality medical apps. A November 2010 report from Chilmark Research forecasts a $1.7 billion market for mobile apps in healthcare enterprises by 2014. Some estimates peg the total universe of health-related apps (professional and consumer) around 10,000.

CompTIA’s study finds the use of medical apps will increase substantially. Presently, about 38 percent of physicians with a mobile device capable of supporting apps use their health-related apps on a daily basis. This may range from an application to remotely access their EMR/EHR or a reference tool to check for drug interactions. Over the next 12 months, physicians in the CompTIA study expect to increase the usage of medical apps to the point where 50 percent are using them daily.

The key improvements that healthcare providers would like to see in their devices relate to:

• usability (better battery life, better native EMR/EHR apps) and


• network connectivity and functionality (better touchpad, printing capabilities, voice recognition).

Durability and security through authentication and encryption of data are also areas of potential improvement.

When it comes to mobile device security, many ends-users fail to recognize potential vulnerabilities, so they may not view it as an area in need of improvement. Combined with the underuse of basic safeguards, such as device passcodes or encryption, many healthcare professionals could find themselves facing a serious mobile security issue. IT solution providers have an important role in securing devices and managing risk in the healthcare industry.

For IT solution providers, business opportunities will continue to shift to supporting the mobile ecosystem in areas such as:

1. Securing WiFi networks to prevent data loss or intrusion,


2. Enabling encryption on mobile devices to protect sensitive data,


3. Enabling user authentication, password protection, lock screen and other security protocols,


4. Enabling remote wipe in case of lost or stolen devices,


5. Developing mobile data security and risk management policies that comply with HIPPA and HITECH,


6. Mobile virtualization and


7. Managing the relationship between mobile apps and cloud computing (where is the data stored, how is it backed-up, how is it secured, etc.).