Project Overview
A recent Australian study has found 100% of [training] doctors regularly take clinical photos with their smart phones^. From March 12, 2014, health professionals caught with unsecured patient images on their smart device will be fined up to $340,000. Institutions face up to $1,700,000 for each breach. PicSafe Medi is a secure mobile medical imaging system. It provides a safe, legal way for health professionals to snap, transmit and send patient-consented clinical photos to a secure cloud storage and archive–and also allows colleagues to access these. It’s effectively an insurance policy, given the forthcoming changes to federal health legislation.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
PicSafe Medi was client commissioned. Two surgeons approached us (ProjectProject – we are a Melbourne-based app and brand development company) to develop an app and system for secure mobile clinical photography.
We loved the idea so much, we took equity. We thought of the idea as ‘secure Instagram meets medical Dropbox’.
Project Brief
This was a technical and legal area of vast unknowns requiring serious R&D. We needed to develop a useful product that would comply with the strictest privacy laws.
Developing compliant features and wording, we consulted with our IP lawyers for brand protection and specialist legal health expertise.
Picsafe Medi needed to be easy to use, with security, patient ID and consent functions as core. Further, it was built to pre-empt and conform to the changing Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) and other territories’ legislation. Once an image and data is captured via the app, it is sent to the PicSafe Medi cloud with image and data separated in two different databases (for added security) and stored for at least seven years. A unique, secure, dynamically generated short URL is then sent to anyone nominated by the photographer, allowing access to the photo and information. The recipient would then register an account or log into the system (web or app) to view the image and tags. Importantly, the system provides a dependable audit trail, logging the who, what, when and where. The system provides for individual and institutional compliance with electronic health record and patient privacy legislation.
The clinical photo is first taken through the app, not the smart device camera. After tags have been added for reference, a patient’s signed and/or verbal (audio) consent, is obtained (and audio recorded, if desired). The image and data is then sent to the Picsafe Medi cloud and / or recipients and stored.
Project Need
For clarity of purpose, nothing like Picsafe Medi currently exists. And thus true innovation has been the key to the concept since day one. This lies in the various elements of the product itself; the way that it's currently revolutionising healthcare workflows, patient privacy and the unique approach to marketing.
PicSafe Medi uses the very device that sits at the heart of the patient-privacy issue, to solve the problem, itself. It provides health professionals with a simple, legal and secure option – on a familiar device they are already using – to achieve and exceed clinical goals in real time.
Example: Outside gaining diagnostic perspective, it functions as a time saver in day-to-day healthcare. Before wrapping a wound, a nurse can take a secure photo so that, when the doctor reviews a patient, they can simply view the image of that wound. This is more efficient than unwrapping, exposing and redressing each time and causing the patient great discomfort.
Example Two: PicSafe Medi will link large metropolitan hospitals with smaller regional hospitals that have limited resources. If a GP in an isolated rural town is unsure about the seriousness of an injury, an image quickly and securely sent to a specialist, who can then advise on the diagnosis and best course of action to take is a gift to all. This will save time, money, consultation time and even patient lives.
The uses for PicSafe Medi are many and varied and potentially life saving.
User Experience
PicSafe Medi offers a very simple user experience for health professionals as we’ve sought to closely replicate current (illegal) yet pragmatic mobile camera device practices of the market:
1. User takes a photo and adds relevant tags
2. They obtain various types of patient consent via signature and /or audio.
3. They then distribute the image via SMS, or email to others or simply add to their account and store for later reference.
The process via the app is deliberately simple and intuitive, taking under a minute and replicating current behaviour. As people of varying levels of technological ability will use the app, we have prioritized simplicity throughout the development and design. We’re looking for ease of uptake by health professionals of any type.
Viewing an image in a Picsafe Medi account at any time is also simple. An account holder can log in to the website and access the archive or an individual image (if invited) at any time, from anywhere via any connected device.
For patients, PicSafe Medi means they are given the assurance that clinical images taken in the privacy of a consultation room remain private. The multi-layered security provisions allow for peace of mind.
This ultimately leads to a more comfortable consultation and the power to say they’re uncomfortable about a doctor not using PicSafe Medi when taking a photo of them.
Project Marketing
We're taking a completely integrated and strategic approach to building awareness and credibility around PicSafe Medi.
We're doing this through a combination of:
+ Targeted social media.
+ Facebook advertising targeting users who’ve listed ‘healthcare’ as their profession.
+ Targeted search engine marketing.
+ Emails, letters and calls to decision makers in government, insurance bodies and various institutions.
+ Targeted ads in highly focused, well-read industry magazines.
+ Targeted appearances and talks at highly focused industry events.
Due to the overwhelming need for a mobile-based clinical imaging and patient privacy system like PicSafe Medi, we’ve already secured editorial placements in various medical-focused publications and have received invitations to speak at conferences. Some of these include the LASA Victoria State Congress and Exhibition and the HIMAA 2013 National Conference. Marketing through both traditional avenues in conjunction with social media is important, as we are trying to educate not only healthcare professionals but the wider patient market.
We are in the early stages of implementing trials within hospital environments. In doing this, working health professionals will assist ongoing development with feedback on benefits, functionality, usability and future features.
As patient privacy and clinical security is an issue for the global health industry, international markets are already communicating with PicSafe Medi. The overall goal is that the app will be able to be used by any health professional, in any clinic or hospital or remote area, anywhere in the world.
Medical
This category relates to applications that provide or promote a medical service or information.
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