[Background: Since 2022 HIFA is supporting mHEALTH-INNOVATE, an international research consortium exploring how health workers use mobile phones informally to support their work (in practice, we are looking especially at how they use their personal mobile phones to support their work). HIFA is the main platform for sharing experience and expertise on this topic. Your inputs over the coming days and weeks are crucial and will feed into high-level policy discussions at WHO in June. See: https://www.hifa.org/news/mhealth-innovate-exploring-healthcare-workers-... ]
For patients, privacy and confidentiality issues may be a concern when healthcare workers store and share patient information on their personal mobile phones. Many of the healthcare workers in our research are aware of this problem, and some try and develop their own solutions, such as this clinical officer in Uganda:
“I usually obtain consent from my patient before taking any images. I also strive to store and send the information via secure apps. For example, I avoid keeping sensitive data directly on my phone and when I have to, I use security codes to hide the information or utilise encrypted messaging apps to discuss information with colleagues” (Namitala 2024).
But informal use can also offer more privacy than the formal system. For instance, some patients prefer to discuss sensitive topics on private phones rather than at clinics or having this information recorded in their patient journal. In Malawi, one healthcare worker explained that “If someone has a sexually transmitted disease, they wouldn’t feel comfortable to come to a clinic because they would feel exposed; it won’t be confidential. So they can call the [Health Surveillance Assistant] directly“ (Hampshire 2021, in Glenton 2024).
QUESTION: In your setting, do you (or other health workers) have similar concerns to those in Malawi and Uganda? How do you/they try to ensure that patient information remains confidential and secure?
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org