Smartphone Use and Security Challenges in Hospitals: A Survey among Resident Physicians in Germany

Judith Kraushaar () and Sabine Bohnet-Joschko
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Judith Kraushaar: Chair of Healthcare Management and Innovation, Faculty of Management, Economics and Society, Witten/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany
Sabine Bohnet-Joschko: Chair of Healthcare Management and Innovation, Faculty of Management, Economics and Society, Witten/Herdecke University, 58455 Witten, Germany

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-20

Abstract: Although mobile devices support physicians in a variety of ways in everyday clinical practice, the use of (personal) mobile devices poses potential risks for information security, data protection, and patient safety in hospitals. We used a cross-sectional survey-based study design to assess the current state of smartphone use among resident physicians in hospitals and to investigate the relationships between working conditions, current smartphone usage patterns, and security-related behavior. In total, data from 343 participating physicians could be analyzed. A large majority (98.3%) used their smartphones during clinical practice. Of the respondents who used a smartphone during clinical practice, only 4.5% were provided with a smartphone by their employer. Approximately three-quarters of the respondents who used their smartphones for professional communication never/almost never used dedicated GDPR-compliant messenger services. Using a hierarchical regression model, we found a significant effect of the organizational resources Social Support (Supervisor) and Information Security-related Communication on security-related behavior during the selection of medical apps (App Selection). Smartphones are an important part of digital support for physicians in everyday clinical practice. To minimize the risks of use, technical and organizational measures should be taken by the hospital management, resulting, for example, in a Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) initiative.

Keywords: mobile devices; smartphones; hospitals; residents; information security; apps; working conditions; organization; digitization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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