10/11/2013    Alec Hochstein, DPM

Using Smartphones to Document NH Visits (Animesh Bhatia, DPM DPM)

I want to thank Dr. Bhatia for mentioning the App
that I developed WoundSmart. In developing this
App, it was at the forefront of my mind that the
debate about HIPAA compliance would come up. I
went to great lengths to ensure that most of the
pitfalls of smartphone documentation were taken
into account while developing it.

As Dr. Bhatia mentioned, in addition to having a
smartphone lock on an iOS device, the App itself
also has a built-in password that can be set using
any alphanumeric combination. This in itself is
more secure than the countless number of scrap
papers that we have all seen lying around at
nurses stations that contain PHI.

The pictures taken that are stored within the
WoundSmart app do not store any information that
could be linked back to the patient, the pictures
that are taken within the App do not even become
part of the iOS camera roll and can only be viewed
from within the password-protected app.

I want to make a point of saying that in
developing the app I did not develop it as a full-
blown EMR but rather the impetus for its
development was to give residents as well as other
wound care providers a convenient and thorough
tool to create a complete wound document that
would stand up to even the most stringent audit.

I think that with documentation and the advent of
the smart phone and as the cameras become more and
more advanced not only will it behoove the
practitioner to employ their use but, I envision a
time when it will certainly become the standard of
care for patient documentation.

I am pleased to have developed this App and I'm
even prouder to be a podiatrist having brought it
to the medical community with it being downloaded
globally by podiatrists, vascular surgeons,
plastic surgeons, wound care nurses, as well as
residents of multiple specialties.

Technology is moving at a pace that far exceeds
the speed at which laws and guidelines are
developed. We must as a profession and as
practitioners embrace it and lead the way as to
what will become the standard of care.

Alec Hochstein, DPM, Great Neck, NY,
greatneckfootdoc@me.com

There are no more messages in this thread.