Physicians Like EMR-Connected Apps

A new survey by vendor eClinicalWorks has concluded that the vast majority of physicians like EMR-connected apps, and many cases, believe that apps can improve patient care.

Of course, the research is a bit self-serving. The study announcement comes alongside news that the company plans to invest $25 million on patient engagement tools over the next 12 months, starting with a free mobile app for patients available on iOS and Android. Still, it’s worth a look anyway.

The study, conducted online, collected responses from 2,291 healthcare professionals in mid-January, reports SearchHealthIT.com.  Of that total, 649 respondents were physicians.

Researchers found that nearly all doctors responding (93 percent) think it’s valuable to have a mobile health app connected to an EMR, the site reports.  The same number of doctors said that mobile health apps can improve a patient’s health outcome, and 80 percent said they were likely to recommend a mobile health app to a patient.

So what do physicians hope to gain from such apps, specifically?  According to SearchHealthIT.com:

* 58 percent of physicians were particularly interested in the ability to provider automatic appointment alerts and reminders. (Six out of ten physicians said that at least half their patients would like getting appointment reminders from an app, too.)
* Almost half of doctors felt giving patients access to their medical records was a key benefit
* Many suggested that using apps to make appointment scheduling easier would be very helpful

The study also concluded that apps could help with patient wellness. Sixty-five percent said they could improve medication adherence, 54 percent diabetes care and 52 percent preventative care, the site reported.

About the author

Anne Zieger

Anne Zieger is a healthcare journalist who has written about the industry for 30 years. Her work has appeared in all of the leading healthcare industry publications, and she's served as editor in chief of several healthcare B2B sites.

2 Comments

  • Funny they needed to do a survey to come to that conclusion. Seems like a no-brainer that MDs will want apps connected to EMRs. Of course, some of the Wang-era (i.e., one vendor has to provided everything top to bottom) EMR vendors will interpret that as meaning that the “EMR-connected” is synonymous with “EMR-provided”. There’s no technical reason why 3rd party apps can’t connect with EMRs. Being dependent on one vendor for apps is like being dependent on Verizon’s monoculture app store rather than iOS/Android app stores. The diverse ecosystem enabled by modern app environments will be much less risky for providers than monocultures.

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