The Patient is in app suite is comprised of four apps including an app for patients, an app for caregivers, an app for doctors (and other healthcare providers such as nurses, anesthesiologists, chiropractors, etc), and an app for charge nurses (and other types of administrators). These apps use three (3) types of data:

1. Data needed to ensure authorized access
   The Patient is in apps connect patients and the staff at a medical facility. During app setup, an encrypted peer-to-peer local WiFi network is established which lets a device securely identify itself. This requires that the apps use the WiFi network information and device location to ensure authorized access.

   
   The Patient is in apps also connect patients and medical staff through iCloud and the Microsoft Azure cloud. These network connections are also encrypted. This requires that you are logged into an iCloud account while using an app. The Patient is in apps never have access to your iCloud account information or data from other apps. A healthcare provider may choose to create and use a new, work-only iCloud account.

   Each device using an app must use a unique iCloud account.

2. Data needed for patient assignments
   Staff names and roles
   For a doctor to be assigned to a room to treat a patient, the charge nurse must be able to identify the doctor. A doctor should provide a unique name perhaps with their role. For example, rather than using “Dr. Smith”, a better name would be “Dr. Thomas Wayne, ICU” or “Cardiologist On-Call”.

   
   Location data
   At many medical facilities, it is important to know the location of your staff and patients. The Patient is in apps use Apple’s micro-location iBeacon technology to provide the charge nurse with the approximate location of the on-site medical staff and patients. Specifically, if a doctor has installed The Patient is in doctor app and her iPhone is in the vicinity of a charge nurse’s iPad unto which the charge nurse app is installed, then the charge nurse will have access to the doctor’s on-site location. On-site location will be described in broad terms such as “near Nurse Station 2” and “left ICU Nurse Station”. The doctor may disable reporting of this information to the charge nurse through a toggle in the doctor app. On-site location updates are turned off by default.On-site location data is also used by the patient app to provide a streamlined check-in process. The patient may disable reporting of this information to the charge nurse through a toggle in the patient app. On-site location updates are turned off by default.

   The charge nurse may also need to know the location of off-site doctors who may be traveling to a medical facility, perhaps for emergency surgery. The charge nurse app provides a live map with a traffic view of off-site staff. Specifically, if a doctor has installed The Patient is in doctor app, then the charge nurse will have access to the doctor’s off-site location. The doctor may disable reporting of this information through a toggle on the Settings tab in the doctor app. Off-site location updates are turned off by default.

   
   Conference calls with FaceTime

   The Patient is in apps are integrated with FaceTime on the iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch. To protect a user’s personal FaceTime contact information, The Patient is in apps allow the user to designate a FaceTime alias.

   
   Patient notes
   When a charge nurse assigns a doctor to a room to see a patient, she may provide optional comments about the patient such as if the patient has elevated vital signs or other symptoms which require a quick response from the doctor. Since these comments may identify a patient in addition to describing the patient’s condition, these notes are encrypted and transferred through encrypted network connections.
   
   Announcing patient assignments using AirPlay compatible speakers 

   The Patient is in charge nurse app is integrated with AirPlay allowing the charge nurse to announce that a doctor has a new patient assignment. Specifically, the charge nurse app can announce that a doctor (as defined above in the section “Staff names”) has a patient assignment in a specific room. The  charge nurse app will not announce the patient notes. The charge nurse app uses on-device text-to-speech technologies allowing the charge nurse to broadcast announcements to patients and staff.

3. Data needed for remote patient monitoring Cardiac, respiratory, and other health data
   The iOS-based patient app is integrated with Apple’s HealthKit and Health app allowing the patient to export his health data into a spreadsheet file which is a convenient format for analysis. The patient app can also securely stream the user’s current heart rate data to his patient’s cardiac team in real-time. The patient app can also securely transmit historical cardiac data formatted as a spreadsheet file to the patient’s cardiac team. Additionally, the ECG report generated by Apple’s Health and ECG apps may also be securely transmitted to the patient’s cardiac team.The cardiac data and files are automatically encrypted prior to leaving the patient’s iPhone or Apple Watch and are automatically decrypted on arriving at each cardiac team member’s iPhone or iPad. The app developer does not maintain an off-device copy of the encryption keys used to encrypt and decrypt health data derived from HealthKit. The apps create a secure conduit between a patient’s device and the devices of the patient’s cardiac team members.

This privacy policy will be updated and your questions and suggestions are welcomed.

Updated on March 03, 2021 in support of version 2.0