Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review
Background: Health care professionals are increasingly using smartphones in clinical care. Smartphone use can affect patient quality of care and clinical outcomes. Objective: This scoping review aimed to describe how physicians use smartphones and mobile apps in clinical settings. Methods:...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165821 |
| _version_ | 1811692842768138240 |
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| author | Lee, Mauricette Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood Lee, Eng Sing Smith, Helen Elizabeth Tudor Car, Lorainne |
| author2 | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) |
| author_facet | Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Lee, Mauricette Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood Lee, Eng Sing Smith, Helen Elizabeth Tudor Car, Lorainne |
| author_sort | Lee, Mauricette |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Background:
Health care professionals are increasingly using smartphones in clinical care. Smartphone use can affect patient quality of care and clinical outcomes.
Objective:
This scoping review aimed to describe how physicians use smartphones and mobile apps in clinical settings.
Methods:
We conducted a scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported the results according to PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. We used the following databases in our literature search: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and gray literature for studies published since 2010. An additional search was also performed by scanning the reference lists of included studies. A narrative synthesis approach was used.
Results:
A total of 10 studies, published between 2016 and 2021, were included in this review. Of these studies, 8 used surveys and 2 used surveys with focus group study designs to explore smartphone use, its adoption, experience of using it, and views on the use of smartphones among physicians. There were studies with only general practitioners (n=3), studies with only specialists (n=3), and studies with both general practitioners and specialists (n=4). Physicians use smartphones and mobile apps for communication (n=9), clinical decision-making (n=7), drug compendium (n=7), medical education and training (n=7), maintaining health records (n=4), managing time (n=4), and monitoring patients (n=2) in clinical practice. The Medscape medical app was frequently used for information gathering. WhatsApp, a nonmedical app, was commonly used for physician-patient communication. The commonly reported barriers were lack of regulatory oversight, privacy concerns, and limited Wi-Fi or internet access. The commonly reported facilitator was convenience and having access to evidence-based medicine, clinical decision-making support, and a wide array of apps.
Conclusions:
Smartphones and mobile apps were used for communication, medical education and training, clinical decision-making, and drug compendia in most studies. Although the benefits of smartphones and mobile apps for physicians at work were promising, there were concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality. Legislation is urgently needed to protect the liability of health care professionals using smartphones. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:42:13Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/165821 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:42:13Z |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1658212023-04-16T15:38:00Z Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review Lee, Mauricette Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood Lee, Eng Sing Smith, Helen Elizabeth Tudor Car, Lorainne Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine) Social sciences::Communication Science::Medicine Evidence-Based Medicine Specialist General Practitioners GP Primary Care Physicians Mobile Apps Consultants Surgeons Pediatricians Clinical Care Mobile Phone Background: Health care professionals are increasingly using smartphones in clinical care. Smartphone use can affect patient quality of care and clinical outcomes. Objective: This scoping review aimed to describe how physicians use smartphones and mobile apps in clinical settings. Methods: We conducted a scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and reported the results according to PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. We used the following databases in our literature search: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and gray literature for studies published since 2010. An additional search was also performed by scanning the reference lists of included studies. A narrative synthesis approach was used. Results: A total of 10 studies, published between 2016 and 2021, were included in this review. Of these studies, 8 used surveys and 2 used surveys with focus group study designs to explore smartphone use, its adoption, experience of using it, and views on the use of smartphones among physicians. There were studies with only general practitioners (n=3), studies with only specialists (n=3), and studies with both general practitioners and specialists (n=4). Physicians use smartphones and mobile apps for communication (n=9), clinical decision-making (n=7), drug compendium (n=7), medical education and training (n=7), maintaining health records (n=4), managing time (n=4), and monitoring patients (n=2) in clinical practice. The Medscape medical app was frequently used for information gathering. WhatsApp, a nonmedical app, was commonly used for physician-patient communication. The commonly reported barriers were lack of regulatory oversight, privacy concerns, and limited Wi-Fi or internet access. The commonly reported facilitator was convenience and having access to evidence-based medicine, clinical decision-making support, and a wide array of apps. Conclusions: Smartphones and mobile apps were used for communication, medical education and training, clinical decision-making, and drug compendia in most studies. Although the benefits of smartphones and mobile apps for physicians at work were promising, there were concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality. Legislation is urgently needed to protect the liability of health care professionals using smartphones. Published version 2023-04-13T06:20:51Z 2023-04-13T06:20:51Z 2023 Journal Article Lee, M., Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood, Lee, E. S., Smith, H. E. & Tudor Car, L. (2023). Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review. JMIR MHealth and UHealth, 11, e44765-. https://dx.doi.org/10.2196/44765 2291-5222 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165821 10.2196/44765 11 e44765 en JMIR mHealth and uHealth © Mauricette Lee, Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood, Eng Sing Lee, Helen Elizabeth Smith, Lorainne Tudor Car. Originally published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth (https://mhealth.jmir.org), 31.03.2023. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in JMIR mHealth and uHealth, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://mhealth.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Communication Science::Medicine Evidence-Based Medicine Specialist General Practitioners GP Primary Care Physicians Mobile Apps Consultants Surgeons Pediatricians Clinical Care Mobile Phone Lee, Mauricette Abu Bakar Shakran Bin Mahmood Lee, Eng Sing Smith, Helen Elizabeth Tudor Car, Lorainne Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title | Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title_full | Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title_fullStr | Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title_short | Smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice: scoping review |
| title_sort | smartphone and mobile app use among physicians in clinical practice scoping review |
| topic | Social sciences::Communication Science::Medicine Evidence-Based Medicine Specialist General Practitioners GP Primary Care Physicians Mobile Apps Consultants Surgeons Pediatricians Clinical Care Mobile Phone |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/165821 |
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