Leading article: Use of smartphones to pass on information about patients - what are the current issues?

Abstract

Many doctors now use mobile devices such as smartphones to communicate with one another about their patients, and sometimes this is without the knowledge and approval of their employer. We know of little information about the use of texting and other web-based messaging services by doctors in hospitals, so we reviewed relevant published studies to assess the safety and usefulness of current methods of digital communication.

Keywords: SMS.; Texting; communication; patient; safety; social media.