Should We Better Stick to Pen and Paper? An Empirical Investigation on Functionality, Privacy and Data-Security of Physiotherapy Telehealth Applications

Stud Health Technol Inform. 2024 Apr 26:313:93-100. doi: 10.3233/SHTI240018.

Abstract

Background: Telehealth and mHealth apps become increasingly popular in health professions such as physiotherapy calling for increased awareness on functionality, privacy, and data security.

Objectives: This work presents a functionality, privacy, and data-security evaluation of four telehealth services commonly used in physiotherapy.

Methods: We examined functionality and features, data protection, privacy implementations and data-security with a questionnaire and performed an in-depth investigation of the services.

Results: Privacy and security relevant findings such as use of outdated webservers, problems with certificate renewal as well as questionable GDPR compliance were reported.

Conclusion: Due to the privacy and security relevant findings in this analysis it can be concluded that there is a need for improvement in design, development, operation as well as regulation of telehealth apps and services.

Keywords: Data Security; Mobile Health; Physiotherapy; Telehealth.

MeSH terms

  • Computer Security*
  • Confidentiality*
  • Humans
  • Mobile Applications
  • Physical Therapy Modalities
  • Privacy
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Telemedicine*