Personal Injury Law

Are iPhones the Standard of Care?

By John A. Day

To be precise, I am not talking about iPhones.  I am talking about the apps for iPhones.  There are hundreds and hundreds of iPhone apps for health care providers that permit one to help formulate a differential diagnosis, check for drug-drug interactions, or identify medications.

So, does the standard of care require a doctor to buy and use these apps relevant to his or her field?

Not today.  But as time goes on look for the standard of care to include either the knowledge of relevant data that can be gathered from such sources or ready means to access it via iPhone, Blackberry, etc.  Medical students are already being trained for the use of these devices, and it is only natural that the standard of care will ultimately incorporate the use of  these tools.

Full post as published by Day on Torts on May 20, 2009 (boomark / email).