Physician in your pocket: is technology good or evil?

Abstract

The smartphones are becoming a key part of each and every healthcare professionals and it will further grow in the
coming years. It is the fastest –spreading technology in the human history with over 6.8 billion mobile subscriptions
in the space of a decade.
Smartphones are routinely used for medical education and medical practice. The medical students are using
educational apps and doctors are using apps related to clinical practice such as medical calculator apps or drug
reference apps. The mobile technology has shown to improve health outcomes for chronic diseases like diabetes, heart
disease, and hypertension.
This revolution is plainly shaking up the health sector and Ophthalmology is no exception. Currently, there are more
than 60 Ophthalmology related applications available from Apple’s popular iPhone and other smartphone platforms
like Android, Symbian and Windows Phone. The screening apps are available for visual acuity, visual field, color
vision tests, contrast sensitivity, IOL calculations, glaucoma screening and much more. A standard photo application
on any smartphone can be used to take a very good quality slit lamp photographs of the anterior segment of the eye.
The smartphone technology is indeed a very powerful tool for facilitating team working and communication between
healthcare providers. However, there are potential negative implications in terms of distraction and inappropriate
exchange of confidential patient information. As compared to pagers, smartphones can receive personal
communication during working hours and lead to unprofessional behavior. How often do we see professionals busy
with smartphones and students playing games on their smartphones even during prime hours? The frequent checking
for messages and “e-mail beeps” during teaching and consultation are definitely distracting.
Related to medical knowledge, which is freely available, there is no governing body, which regulates medical apps to
ensure that the content is current, valid and reliable.