Bring-your-own-device in medical schools and healthcare facilities: A review of the literature

Khutsafalo Kadimo; Masego B Kebaetse; Dineo Ketshogileng; Lovie Edwin Seru; Kagiso B Sebina; Carrie Kovarik; Kutlo Balotlegi

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.09.013

Bring-your-own-device in medical schools and healthcare facilities: A review of the literature

Int J Med Inform. 2018 Nov:119:94-102. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.09.013. Epub 2018 Sep 13.

Authors

Khutsafalo Kadimo¹, Masego B Kebaetse², Dineo Ketshogileng³, Lovie Edwin Seru⁴, Kagiso B Sebina⁵, Carrie Kovarik⁶, Kutlo Balotlegi²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Library Services, University of Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022, Gaborone, Botswana. Electronic address: khutsafalo.kadimo@mopipi.ub.bw.
² Department of Medical Education, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.
³ Department of Library Services, University of Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁴ Communication and Study Skills Unit, University of Botswana, Private Bag UB 0022, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁵ Botswana-University of Maryland School of Medicine Health Initiative, P. O. Box 203258 Bontleng, Gaborone, Botswana.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, Dermatopathology, and Infectious Diseases, University of Pennsylvania, 2 Maloney Building, 3600 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

PMID: 30342692
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2018.09.013

Abstract

Background: Enabling personal mobile device use through a bring-your-own device (BYOD) policy can potentially save significant costs for medical schools and healthcare facilities, as they would not always have to acquire facility-owned devices. The BYOD policy is also perceived as a driver for balancing user needs for convenience with institutional needs for security. However, there seems to be a paucity in the literature on BYOD policy development, policy evaluation, and evaluation of mobile device implementation projects.

Objective: This review explored the literature to identify BYOD policy components (issues, interventions, and guidelines) that could potentially inform BYOD policy development and implementation in medical schools and healthcare facilities.

Methods: A literature search on PubMed, Web of Science, and Ebscohost (Academic Search Premier, ERIC, CINAHL, and MEDLINE) was conducted using the following search terms and their synonyms: healthcare facilities, mobile devices, BYOD, privacy and confidentiality, and health records. We developed a review matrix to capture the main aspects of each article and coded the matrix for emerging themes. The database and hand search yielded 1 594 articles, 14 of which were deemed as meeting the inclusion criteria.

Results: Several themes emerging from the analysis include: device management, data security, medical applications, information technology, education and/or curriculum, policy, and guidelines. The guidelines theme seems to provide a direction for BYOD policy development and implementation while the policy theme seems to be the comprehensive solution that synergizes BYOD implementation.

Conclusion: Rather than an approach of 'chasing' issues with interventions, a more feasible approach towards achieving a safe mobile device use environment is through the development of comprehensive BYOD policies that would balance users' need for convenience with organizational security and patient privacy. The paucity in peer-reviewed literature calls for robust research that uses socio-technical approaches to development and evaluation of BYOD policies in medical schools and healthcare facilities.

Keywords: Bring-your-own-device (BYOD); Healthcare facilities; Medical education; Mhealth; Mlearning; mobile devices.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
Review

MeSH terms

Computer Security / standards*
Computers, Handheld / standards*
Confidentiality*
Health Facilities / standards*
Humans
Periodicals as Topic*
Schools, Medical*