sicians and staff to discuss patient care and share data in real time. “Now, Enterprise clients can give us
a directory of their entire medical staff, and we can build care teams for them, or they can build their own care teams as an extension of the hospital directory,” Dr. Haas said.
Hospitals and large groups pay a negotiated rate for Docbook Enterprise, which can be used by all physicians and staff affiliated with contracted hospitals and groups, regardless of TMA mem- bership. Only TMA members, however, have access to the full regional physician directory. Physicians who aren’t TMA members can view the hospital direc- tory only. Dr. Gueramy says a partnership be- tween DocbookMD and Medical Service Bureau, Medlink, and MAP Communi- cations enables doctors to receive their answering service messages through the app, which contains encrypted informa- tion and notifications. Looking ahead, Dr. Haas says DocbookMD plans to offer a third-party viewer for full radiology im- ages that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “Doctors can finally read the actual x-
ray, computed tomography scan, or MRI directly from their device. That’s the solution we were originally looking for when we first envisioned DocbookMD six years ago,” Dr. Haas said. DocbookMD released version 5.3 ear- lier this year. It’s available free of charge and features improvements to the user interface, most noticeably in the organi- zation and navigation of messages and upgrades for your “Favorites” list. (See
“Free DocbookMD Update Available,” page 47.)
Network at your fingertips Wichita Falls otolaryngologist Jed Grisel, MD, downloaded DocbookMD last year and says it helps him coordinate care for patients. For instance, he and his colleagues at Head & Neck Surgical As- sociates work with a dermatologist who removes skin cancers from patients. Af- ter having the cancer removed, patients return to Dr. Grisel or another physician in the practice to have the affected area reconstructed.
April 2014 TEXAS MEDICINE 45
“Using DocbookMD, the dermatolo- gist can send me an image of the defect on the patient’s skin prior to the surgery I’ll be performing. It really helps to have that picture in advance because I can begin planning how I’ll reconstruct the defect. I’m ready to go the next day, and care is coordinated in a HIPAA-compliant way,” said Dr. Grisel, a member of the TMA Leadership College class of 2014. Dr. Gueramy says DocbookMD takes security and HIPAA compliance seriously. The DocbookMD website lists four major HIPAA security criteria mobile apps must meet:
• There must be a termination proce- dure that allows rapid removal of pro- tected health information (PHI) from the device or rapid termination of ac- cess to PHI. DocbookMD can remotely shut down access to the app and any data containing PHI when a physician reports the device lost or stolen.
• Access to the device containing PHI must be limited. DocbookMD encour- ages physicians to keep their devices safe and to password-protect their phones and tablets.
• PHI must be encrypted based on the highest encryption standards avail- able. Secure encryption must be con- tinually tested. The DocbookMD web- site says DocbookMD uses 256-bit encryption for all PHI on the device, server, and during transmission.
• Devices that contain PHI must have backup and recovery procedures. DocbookMD has backup procedures
and a disaster recovery plan if a de- vice or PHI is lost or compromised. Servers also have these systems and emergency recovery procedures.
All DocbookMD physician users must sign a HIPAA business agreement, which specifies the company’s data protection policy and the responsibilities of all par- ties to ensure confidentiality of patient information. As HIPAA-covered entities, users of the app must abide by HIPAA and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act rules, including privacy and security rules. Knowing that the app safeguards pa- tients’ PHI is reassuring to Dr. Grisel and the physicians in his group, made up of four surgeons and about 25 staff mem- bers. Head & Neck Surgical Associates is the only practice in Wichita Falls that provides all aspects of head and neck surgery. Dr. Grisel says serving a large geographic area comes with challenges. “One of the issues that is unique to
Wichita Falls is that it has a large elderly population concentrated in rural areas. The town is home to 100,000 people, but our group serves 300,000 people who make up the small surrounding communities,” he said. DocbookMD allows Dr. Grisel and his partners to communicate quickly and securely, thereby improving patient care, he says.
“The app has been extremely helpful for us. It will be even more helpful as we get more physicians working in small, rural areas on board,” he said.
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