With the Apple Watch reportedly selling out everywhere and more than a dozen developers already announcing healthcare apps for the new gadget, hospital IT departments should prepare for another proliferation of mobile devices trying to access their networks, an IT security specialist says.
“It’s assumed” that the Apple Watch will find its way into the healthcare enterprise sooner rather than later, said Eric Aarrestad, vice president and general manager of the unified endpoint management business unit at HEAT Software, Milpitas, Calif. “You’re already seeing enterprise applications,” he added.
HEAT Software, which once stood for Helpdesk Expert Automation Tool, was known as FrontRange Solutions before a buyout in February.
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Aarrestad called smartwatches and wearable technology extensions of BYOD from an endpoint management perspective. The term “endpoint management” itself is an extension of the management of smartphones and tablets to intelligent devices, wireless appliances and the Internet of Things.
“Mobile device management is now enterprise mobility management,” or, more broadly, unified endpoint management, Aarrestad said.
Since the Apple Watch has a heart rate monitor and is said to have a deactivated pulse oximeter — deactivated probably to avoid FDA regulation as a medical device in this release — expect it to find actual medical uses — not just IT applications — in the future. That means healthcare organizations will have to secure smartwatches to HIPAA standards. The time to start thinking about that is now, according to Aarrestad.
“With rapid adoption and applications being developed so fast, there’s a need to secure those devices,” Aarrestad said.
