Smartphone usage in hospitals has increased steadily since 2012, with 77 percent of respondents reporting their organizations support smartphone use, according to the second installment of Spok's annual mobility in healthcare survey.
Spok collected data in February, and the survey polled 300 healthcare professionals, including physicians, nursing staff, IT staff and executives.
Here are six findings:
1. Respondents report that hospital support for other devices, such as wide-area pagers, in-house pagers and tablets is waning. Only 50 percent say their hospital supports wide-area pagers and tablets.
2. For non-clinical staff, in-house pagers are most popular, with 48 percent of respondents saying they are the device of choice for non-clinical staff at their hospital.
3. Smartphones rank second (40 percent) as the device of choice for non-clinical staff and Wi-Fi phones come in third (30 percent).
4. Eighty-seven percent of survey participants noted that Wi-Fi network was business critical.
5. Gaps in Wi-Fi coverage at hospitals have dropped from 65 percent in 2016 to 49 percent in 2017, according to respondents.
6. Fifty-nine percent of respondents reported that their hospitals have 'bring your own device' programs; however, 19 percent say their hospitals do not allow BYOD in any form and 4 percent note their organizations are planning to incorporate a BYOD program.