AirStrip enables a consistent cross-platform mHealth experience

Posted on Oct 11, 2013 in News | 0 comments

The stratospheric rise of smartphones has also brought with it several dominant platforms all vying for users, each with it’s unique features, but offering essentially the same core functionality. Many apps and services have now standardised their apps or features across multiple platforms, including AirStrip, which became the first mHealth company to support the yet unreleased Microsoft Windows 8.1 OS.

“Mobility is no longer defined as just smartphones and tablets. This release of AirStrip ONE Cardiology for Windows 8.1 supports our vision of developing a consistent and seamless user experience for mobile clinical professionals, regardless of form factor,” said Alan Portela, CEO of AirStrip in a company press release. With much of the existing hospital IT infrastructure firmly entrenched in the Windows platform, this move would allow for better integration and a consistent experience for clinicians. He stated that “enabling clinicians to access vital data from across the care continuum in a single unified format will result in an increase in mobile utilisation, helping to drive transformation toward higher quality, more efficient care that mitigates the increasing pressures on a fast-changing healthcare system.”

Microsoft has welcomed the development and has assured a seamless experience across all form factors of devices that utilise the OS including Microsofts own Surface tablets. One of the early Apple ads fired the imagination of clinicians when it showed an ECG rhythm strip being recorded on an iPad. With this development, the Surface may also become ubiquitous in the mHealth field once AirStrip clears the necessary FDA regulations.

Press Release: http://www.airstrip.com/sites/default/files/Cardiology-for-Windows-News-Release-final-9-30.pdf

STDs, HIV & a lack of privacy

Posted on Oct 9, 2013 in News | 0 comments

With the global focus on personal privacy after the revelation of the PRISM program, an unlikely source of a potential security hazard and it could be in your pocket. Smartphones and apps have become ubiquitous in the modern world with far reaching applications, including apps designed to aid the care and prevention of HIV & other STDs. A letter to the editor in the Journal of Medical Internet Research has highlighted that while apps can offer many benefits, each individual risks exposing a wide range of private information to the creators of the apps through the “permissions” the app requests.

Put simply, an app generally has to “request permission” from the user to access certain features, like calendar, phone book, or GPS location, that maybe necessary for optimum performance. While apps may genuinely need access to location data to make suggestions such as the closest sexual health clinic, the issue of confidentiality arises when the app is not created by a named health professional. With over 100 different permissions requested by apps, it is often overwhelming for the user to understand which apps are accessing what data and the ways there are utilising it.

With the significant social implications for an individual being diagnosed with HIV or contracting a STD, apps that provide information or advice at the expense of personal data being sent to third parties are a significant risk to the user. With recent findings suggesting top health apps are sharing data with up to 70 third parties, user caution is highly advised. The author of the letter advised that user should check to see whether the developed of any HIV/STD app, or any app in general, is a reputable body or health professional. Even after checking, users are urged to only accept the app “permission requests” if they are happy to provide the type of data requested.

Original letter: http://www.jmir.org/2013/10/e222/
Evidon research: http://www.evidon.com/blog/healthy-data-set

Will Apple’s Touch ID Fingerprint Recognition Revolutionise mHealth Security?

Posted on Sep 11, 2013 in News | 0 comments

With the announcement of Apple’s iPhone 5S, the new “Touch ID” fingerprint scanner represents an evolution in mHealth security.  As previously discussed in our Editorial over a year ago, one of the growing concerns around the use of mHealth are security issues.

Given the lack of clear guidelines, and poor support from hospitals, many clinicians have patient related information on their personal smartphones.  These can vary from clinical photos taken for documentation and communication with other clinical staff, to emails containing sensitive information.

With hardware encryption, enabled by default on many new smartphones, this means that lost phones cannot have data extracted from them without the correct passcode.  Together with a strong passcode and solid encryption, data on a lost phone is generally quite secure.  However the issue is that over 50% of smartphone users do not have a passcode enabled, and as such a lost phone with clinical data is a catastrophe.   Speaking to clinicians who were yet to enable passcodes on their mobile devices, the main reason was the simple hassle of typing in a passcode so often.

With the introduction of Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint recognition, there is no longer an excuse not to have a “passcode” (this time in the form of a fingerprint) on your smartphone.  The new Apple iPhone 5S has a fingerprint recognition module built into the “home” button on the iPhone.  After registering your finger print, simply touching the home screen button will unlock the device for you seamlessly.  Should the phone be lost, without your fingerprint, the contents of the device will be secure.

Healthcare workers now have a convenient, and highly secure way to protect clinical data on their smartphones.  Apple’s new Touch ID technology is a great step forward in the field of mHealth security, and will undoubtedly protect sensitive clinical information.