Pulsara Blog

Debunking the myths of integrated mobile technology

For a long time, pagers have been considered the logical choice for hospitals because they can get a message through even when a cell phone can’t get a signal. They have been standard in healthcare for over 40 years — for good reason. 

However, mobile technology has come a long way over the past two decades. It's become the way we communicate for everything else in our lives. We text friends and family members. We can even order a pizza and track it to the front door. In the healthcare world, there have been holdups to converting to mobile technology, mostly due to concerns about the reliability of smartphones when compared to pagers. So, let's compare, contrast, and bust a few myths about pagers....

Pagers have been a staple in healthcare communication since the 1980s. Small, loud, and easily passed from clinician to clinician, pagers have been the constant companions of doctors and nurses for a long time. And in that time, they've been vital tools for communication. 

They have their drawbacks, but there are a few important reasons why pagers have stuck around for so long. One particular feature in the pager's design has ensured their longstanding usefulness for physicians: The loud, obnoxious alerts.

Why is that important? Pagers interrupt workflow. In a good way.

Last month, Ambulance Tasmania was rocked by the news that a major data breach exposed over two months of records of patients’ sensitive data.

On January 8th, the personal details of every patient who called an ambulance between November 2020 and mid-January 2021 were discovered online. The website’s administrator posted live updates every time paramedics were dispatched, until the webpage was shut down in mid-January. Sensitive health information exposed on the website included patients’ personal details, gender, age, condition, HIV status, and even the address of the incident. Tasmanian officials expressed concern, outrage, and vows to get to the bottom of the matter.

Where did the breach come from?

Pagers.