Video: Why You Should Allow BYOD–Bring Your Own Device–in Healthcare Environments

The following video with Intel security expert David Houlding explains why healthcare CIOs should allow BYOD and provides key tips.

Consumer IT is a key and growing component of the future of IT in healthcare. This trend is also known as the Consumerization of IT, or BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), and involves healthcare workers globally, and at all levels of healthcare organizations, requesting the ability to use their mobile devices to deliver better mobile healthcare. These personal devices include mobile phones, and in particular smartphones, as well as tablets.

This trend promises to reduce the cost and improve the quality of patient care. Healthcare workers are motivated by improved user experience, flexibility, productivity and job satisfaction, and the ability to deliver patient care anytime and anywhere. Healthcare organizations are motivated by cost reduction and talent acquisition and retention.

My key thoughts about this BYOD trend is what about the healthcare organization’s ability to support all of these devices? Everyone cannot simply bring any device and expect their IT department to properly support all of these smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. The potential security risks surrounding mobile devices are real; therefore, security measures must be in place to safely support this BYOB trend.

What are your thoughts on this?