To BYOD or Not to BYOD, that is the Question

Is it safer in the hospital to control end-user devices, or less expensive to let staff bring their own? The ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) question generally centers on these two topics, and the idea that having one means compromising on the other. 

If hospitals issue devices, security of electronic protected health information (ePHI) can be more tightly managed, but it costs $$ to purchase the devices and maintain the plans. If institutions allow staff to bring their own, the device costs decrease, but what about security and control over how the device is used? The short answer is that BYOD options don’t have to mean more security risks. Institutions truly can get their arms around this.

 If you are considering a BYOD option, you really need a secure way to send text messages and ensure that the messages are encrypted from the moment they leave their point of origin until the recipient has received the message and it resides on the mobile device. Keeping an audit trail of messages is important, too, and helps protect against hearsay on message content and receipt.

 Is your facility considering a BYOD option? Are you in the middle of implementing one? What are your challenges? What are some of your solutions? We had some great dialogue at Connect 12, and now we have an opportunity for it to continue on the blog.