Dear OHSU Community,

A new cadre of residents and fellows began the academic year on July 1, 2021 and have been told that they must install and use Spok Mobile on their personal devices – pagers will only be provided on an as-needed, role-based basis as hardware availability allows. House officers are concerned that this major shift in communication practice, which was made without their input, may result in unreliable, delayed communication and breaches of privacy. Additionally, no financial compensation is being offered for the business use of personal devices and data plans, of which only a subset is compatible with OHSU’s system of repeaters.

Patients place their trust and their lives in our hands. We honor that trust and the privilege of service by urging OHSU administration to take the following immediate action:

1.     In the short term, ensure that all physicians in first call roles have access to a pager, with the option to opt out if a device is not needed.

2.     In the longer term, provide:

a.     Reliable HIPAA-compliant mobile devices with functionality in all assigned work areas, or

b.     Compensation to employee for use of a compatible personal device on a compatible service carrier

Please add your support to this urgent need!