The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has cautioned doctors to think carefully before using personal phones for taking clinical photos and how those records are stored. RACGP president, Dr Harry Nespolon, told iTnews that new guidance from the college on using personal phones for clinical work is about making sure they’re approached in a systematic way that protects both patients and doctors. He said the ubiquity of phones with quality cameras has meant it’s become common practice for GPs to use their own phones to take photos, which are then uploaded to a patient’s medical record or sent to colleagues for a second opinion. Doctors have also been known to snap particularly interesting or abnormal cases for the RACGP to use in exams, Nespolon added. When photos are taken for patient management, the images are subject to the same federal and state or territory laws as other […]