Telemedicine inside the Pocket: The Impact of Smartphones on Daily Patients’ Evaluations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective To evaluate the perception of doctors, residents, and medical students of smartphone use on daily medical practice. Materials and methods Cross-sectional study with data collected online by questionnaire on Google Docs®, with closed multiple-choice questions regarding smartphones use in medical practice and its impact on decision-making and patients' privacy. Results There were 118 questionnaires, mostly from students (61%), followed by medical residents (31%) and medical preceptors (8%). All preceptors confirmed eventual use of smartphones on clinical cases discussions, 77.8% of whom use it in less than half of the time. Among the residents, 94.6% use theirs smartphones, 77% of them in more than half of the time. On the contrary, 12.5% of the students do not use this kind of resource, and among those that do use it, 50% do so more than half of the time. All preceptors, 94.6% residents and 80.6% of the students believe its use does not expose the patients' privacy. Conclusion Preceptors and residents use smartphones more often than medical students. Most agree its use helps on daily decision-making and does not jeopardize the patients' privacy. How to cite this article Abreu-Reis P, Bassani T, Collaco IA, Pereira GD, Faggion HZ, Sawczyn GV, Uchida EP, Nasr A, Tomasich FS, Lopes JA. Telemedicine inside the Pocket: The Impact of Smartphones on Daily Patients' Evaluations. Panam J Trauma Crit Care Emerg Surg 2016;5(2):88-92.