How Samsung SDS Makes Mobile Devices Work For Hospitals;

A check-in tablet passes from one patient to the next, and a single leftover photo of an ID or an auto-filled keyboard suggestion becomes a PHI nightmare. From the Samsung booth at HIMSS, we sit down with Ray to unpack how Samsung SDS approaches healthcare IT with a simple goal: make devices and workflows safer, easier, and more useful for the people on the front line.

We get specific about what Samsung SDS does beyond distribution, including helping health systems get the right Samsung phones and tablets into hospitals and clinics, and even porting key applications from iOS to Android when teams need the same functionality across platforms. We also talk about Samsung DeX and the bigger operational idea behind it: reducing dependence on costly nursing carts and PCs by enabling a one-to-one mobile device model that follows the nurse, supports real mobility, and keeps care more connected to the patient.

Then we dig into privacy, compliance, and practical risk. Ray shares how shared tablets used for patient check-in can accidentally carry over sensitive information, and how an approach like Data Sweeper can reset devices between patients without removing the core app staff depends on. We close with a look at the connected patient room and the potential of Google XR for patient distraction and comfort during difficult moments like burn wound care or long dialysis sessions, plus why Samsung’s broader investment in healthcare shapes this “work backwards from the patient” mindset.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

And I'm here at the Samsung booth at HIMS with an old contact and colleague, Ray. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:07

I am fantastic. Thank you so much for stopping by.

What Samsung SDS Does

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Well, thanks for connecting. And Samsung SDS might just be the best kept secret, not secret in the industry. Of course, everyone knows Samsung. But how do you describe Samsung SDS and its mission in healthcare?

Replacing PCs With Mobile Workflow

SPEAKER_01 0:24

It's a great question. So one of the items that we're really focused on is not only the distribution aspect of our devices. So customers stop by and say, hey, how I how can I buy your device? And SDS is actually one of the distributors for Samsung Electronics. Right. So we're engaged with the CDWs and the Insights and everybody else on you know in that resale side. So we're really really engaged with those folks to make sure that they can supply those devices directly to the hospitals or the doctors' offices, any of that. But more so than that, we we really pride ourselves on our ability to help our clients be able to maybe port over maybe an iOS application that they've been using that they really need on Android. And we're really focused on even the DEX platform. And I know that you've seen DEX, you know, the Apple DEX for many, many years. And that's one of the areas that we see some really great growth on because you're able to use these um these devices in a completely different way. We're removing PCs and figuring out, you know, that you can just walk around on a one-to-one relationship with a mobile phone, and you know, that's tied to the nurse. And so we're we're trying to help you know those um those clients and those customers be able to be more engaged with uh their their uh uh patients in a one-to-one relationship that's really mobile and really friendly.

Preventing PHI Leaks With Data Sweeper

SPEAKER_00 1:51

That's fantastic. Of course, healthcare systems are in need of a massive refresh, and you're much more than a value-added reseller. You really solve problems. Talk about how you work with your customers on their most pressing tech IT challenges. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

So, you know, they might sit there and say, hey, you know, we have nursing carts and we need to make sure that, you know, it's it's actually pretty expensive to have a nursing cart and a PC and some of the equipment that's going on. And so being able to say to work backwards from that and say, okay, you know, what devices are important to you? Is it a tablet or a phone? Uh, should we put a case on it? Um, you know, how are you cleaning these devices from patient to patient? One of the areas that I think is is really important is we had a hospital that was using tablets for a check-in. And so they were giving a tablet to one patient and then turning around and giving it to the next patient. And as you can imagine, the first patient was probably taking a picture of their driver's license or maybe their insurance card. And if that information you know gets transferred over to the second patient, that's PHI. That's that's a violation. So we actually created an application um called Data Sweeper. And in that data sweeper, it removes all the information that's at PHI and it removed it puts that tablet back into a native state, right? It doesn't remove the application that's important, but it just removes the information that that first patient put in. And so even in the keyboard, like if you've ever used you know a keyboard and and you've you started typing out maybe an email address or a phone number, maybe this is in check-in at a hotel, and you notice that somebody else's name comes up. Imagine if that happened in a hospital. It'd be a really bad situation. And so that data sweeper is able to remove that information from patient to patient and make sure the hospital is secure. So we're deploying that application as an example in many environments, making sure that everybody's safe.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

That's amazing. And of course, you don't just have access to all the internal resources and products and solutions and apps in Samsung. You can bring together and interoperate third-party components to deliver solutions. Um, maybe talk about your your vision for this year. What are you focused on and what's top of mind to your customers, I guess, as well?

Google XR For Pain And Stress

SPEAKER_01 4:08

It's an amazing question. So, you know, it's it's how that connected experience happens, right? In the in the patient room, you have you know uh a patient TV, you have displays, you have a lot of different interaction points of trying to explain to the patient maybe what's going on. Um the amazing platform that Google and and Samsung has been working on is Google XR. And so imagine being able to uh distract a patient during um a really um you know cumbersome procedure uh like um you know uh you're uh let's see um uh the burn unit, right? Yeah, tough one. And so you know you're you're going through and you're having in the nurse um clean your wounds. And so ironically, maybe your skin uh has lost its nerve endings, but your brain still remembers. And so as you're seeing kind of what's going on, your brain is reacting to what's what's happening there. So imagine if you're able to put that patient into a distractive, you know, situation, a really calming environment, maybe even a game. And so now they're not thinking about what's happening to their body, they're actually just thinking about what's happening in the headset and hearing the music. Wow. And so being able to distract them during that, you know, during that time frame, and that's you know, not the only thing. You might be going in for you know blood therapy, and you're sitting in that chair and going through dialysis, and and typically in a dialysis room, it's not a an individual experience. You're in a room, maybe six or seven or eight or ten chairs, and it's it's not a you know a fun experience. And so imagine being able to distract them as well through that experience. And so now you have relief and your brain is somewhere else, and so you you've kind of been transported into an amazing area. And so we really see what's happening with Google XR as an amazing opportunity to have more of an engagement with that patient.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

That's so cool. I know Samsung's connections to health and wellness and healthcare go so deep. Uh, even in Korea, I think Samsung runs hospitals. I do. So it must be very gratifying to be part of an organization that's committed to health, wellness, healthcare, after so much RD and investment.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Absolutely. I mean, we're we've been working on this one Samsung approach in multiple different verticals, and healthcare is a great example of that. We have we have so many teams that are so dedicated both on research, but then also, you know, making sure that the products and services make a lot of sense to you know our patients and our customers. But also we want to make sure that we're walk working backwards and we're saying, okay, you know, tell us what's happening with your patient. Tell us how we can help you and really solve the problems that that are on the front line. You know, you're you have a great point where we do own hospitals and and hotels and you know so many things in Korea, and that does help the the you know uh with the messaging and understanding on what's going on uh in the healthcare space. But that's not the only impact, right? That's not the only way that we take information in. We take information in from our customers and making sure that we understand what's going on.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Wow, it must be very gratifying to be part of a uh organization that's on leading edge on tech and IT and devices and also tech for good. Absolutely with the soul. So well done. Have a great HIMS.

SPEAKER_01 7:26

So thank you so much for stopping by. Really great to see you again. I love seeing you at CES. I was I was happy that we were able to do this as well.

SPEAKER_00 7:34

That's what HIMS is all about connecting and uh cooperating, collaborating. Okay, take care. Thank you.