The popHealth Tool Development Challenge

Want to create an app and enter a contest by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology? Build something for popHealth.

Under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, eligible health care professionals and hospitals can qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments when they adopt certified EHR technology and use it to achieve specified objectives. These "Meaningful Use" objectives include measureable benchmarks providers must meet to qualify for the incentive payments. popHealth is an open source software service developed under the guidance of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that automates the reporting of the Stage 1 Meaningful Use clinical quality measures. popHealth integrates with a healthcare provider’s electronic health record (EHR) system using continuity of care records. It streamlines the automated generation of summary quality measure reports on the provider’s patient population.

MD-IT Releases Android App for Physicians

MD-IT’s new Android app for the Google operating system provides efficiency and accuracy for physician documentation and improves on previous mobile applications by offering the full Patient Chart View (PCV) for MD-IT’s EMR users.

Boulder, CO, September 06, 2011 --(PR.com)-- MD-IT, the leading provider of medical documentation software and service to ambulatory clinics and physician groups, announced today the release of MD-IT iConnect for the Android operating system, enabling smartphone dictation, direct access to the MD‑IT Platform, and a new feature that allows MD-IT’s EMR users to view a patient’s entire longitudinal history – right from their mobile device. Available immediately through Google’s Android Market, the free application allows physicians to join the mHealth revolution by enabling smartphone dictation with a direct schedule interface for quick and accurate clinical documentation.

e-MDs Rounds® for the iPhone

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — e-MDs, a leading provider of electronic health records (EHRs), announced the launch of e-MDs Rounds® for the iPhone.

The user friendly mobile app combines the power of e-MDs Solution Series™ with the mobility of an iPhone, allowing doctors to remotely and securely key patient information from their EHRs via their mobile device. Using Rounds®, doctors are able to view patient data and scheduling information, capture charges, view results, write prescriptions, and exchange messages internally with staff. The app brings another level of convenience to e-MDs users and further streamlines patient care and office maintenance.

Rounds® is a completely interactive iPhone app that allows busy healthcare professionals to make medical decisions and care for patients while out of their office. The app’s key features include:

The Epocrates EHR comes with a native iPhone app

Epocrates recently launched their electronic health record (EHR). One of the nice features associated with this EHR is that it also incldues a native iPhone app.

Native iPhone® App allows doctors to stay productive and focused on patient care whenever and wherever needed. Our mobile EHR application provides complete remote access of patient data, so you can view records, update files, or prepare for tomorrow's patients from your office, your home, or anywhere with a Web browser.

Plus, the Epocrates EHR includes Epocrates Essentials, Epocrates Online, and more. You can learn more about Epocrates EHR here.

Amazing Charts EHR Mobile Solutions

Amazing Charts OnCall App – Now Available!

Got an Apple iPhone, iTouch, or iPad? Now Amazing Charts can be accessed on the go from any of these devices. The Amazing Charts OnCall App allows you to handle your after-hours patient calls by providing a convenient and secure method for accessing patient information while away from the office.

You can look up a patient’s medications and refills, save a message to a patient’s chart, or give hospital emergency rooms vital information when patients are admitted unexpectedly.

The Amazing Charts OnCall App is available at the iPhone App Store for a one-time charge of $24.99.

“AC OnCall is the obvious extension of Amazing Charts, allowing providers to handle their after-hours patient calls with a convenient and secure method for accessing and documenting patient information while away from the office,” said Jonathan Bertman, MD, a family physician and the founder and CEO of Amazing Charts. “Users of our iPhone App will be able to look up a patient’s medications and refills, save a message to a patient’s chart, and give hospital emergency rooms vital information when patients are admitted unexpectedly.”

STATworkUP for iPhone and iPad

Clinical decision support or CDS is a popular phrase these days. Physicians are implementing electronic health records and using computers in their clinical practice. They have access to a wealth of clinical data through the Internet, so they should be making better clinical decisions if they're tapping into this wealth of information, right? Those who are applying the latest evidence are treating patients using true evidence-based principles.

STATworkUP is a clinical decision support tool that's available for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Here's some information about this app:

• Designed exclusively for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch to bring an exceptional user experience to health care providers and students.
• STATworkUP integrates Problems, Tests, Disorders and Remedies to help evaluate complex issues.
• This application contains a collection of evidence-based facts and associations that may be useful for quick review of many details that can help to guide problem assessments.

You can learn about STATworkUP  here: http://www.iatrocom.org/

Most popular among physicians: iPhone and BlackBerry

According to a variety of sources, the Apple iPhone and the RIM BlackBerry are the most popular smartphone choices among physicians. However, given that Google Android is gaining significant traction, when will it overcome iPhone or BlackBerry among physicians?

So, how do physicians choose smartphones? They look at the availability of medical apps. They ask their colleagues for advice. They want something that is simple and easy-to-use. Most physicians won't be "power users," so they only need access to the basic features. (Once in a while, you may find a physician who is a tech-savvy early adopter who has a hundred apps installed.)

As more physicians switch from paper charts to electronic health records, they will want smartphones that will be compatible with their EHR and CPOE systems. They'll use smartphones to stay current on the latest medical news. They're simply too busy to keep up with all the medical breakthroughs. Speaking of being busy, docs are getting more overwhelmed by the high volume of emails so they're reverting to smartphones just to keep up with their emails.

How do you use your smartphone? What would your life look like if you didn't have your smartphone?

Smartphones were everywhere at #HIMSS10

Can you remember what life was like before you had a smartphone? Now, you probably get your e-mails delivered right to your pocket.

At HIMSS10, almost everyone had a smartphone. The HIMSS audience  represents a wide range of health IT professionals including many of the more “tech-savvy” medical professionals. What type of smartphone do you think predominates among such individuals? As expected, BlackBerry is still very popular amongst business users, but the Apple iPhone is ubiquitous among physicians and other health care professionals who work in digital hospitals. I also saw many people using Android smartphones and very few using devices running webOS or Windows Mobile.

EHR vendors were showing attendees how their EHR solution works on various different smartphones. Access to EHRs on smartphones is now almost a standard and expected feature. I'm sure this will be much more evident next year at HIMSS11.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend HIMSS10 and blog about my experiences.

Novel medical smartphone apps at #HIMSS10

I'm at HIMSS10 (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) this week in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm sure I'll see quite a few vendors displaying some novel smartphone apps for the medical community. We already know that several Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors have smartphone apps for their EHR solution. We also see smartphones being used in the telemedicine arena and at the point of care.

Stay tuned and follow all of my blogs this week as I report from HIMSS10. Thanks again to HP for sponsoring me as a HIMSS blogger. Get ready to read about some exciting new smartphone apps that will revolutionize the health care industry!

Many EHRs on smartphones here at #HIMSS10

As I walk through the exhibit hall here at HIMSS10, I'm seeing so many EHR vendors providing their EHR solution via smartphone. No surprise, right? We all know that more physicians are using smartphones, so why not offer a way to access that EHR information when you're not sitting in front of a computer?

I took this photo as I walked by one booth. No, they weren't selling smartphones. Instead, they wanted you to see how their health IT solution worked on various Windows Mobile, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, or webOS smartphones. You can actually pick up one of these devices and play around with the interface. I had the chance to do that at several EHR booths. I could probably spend several weeks going through this exhibit hall. Someone will need to pull me out because I'm having so much fun talking with exhibitors and playing around with all of this mobile technology.

Special thanks to HP for sponsoring me to attend and blog here at HIMSS10.  

Epocrates will offer an EHR for small group practices #HIMSS10

Epocrates Builds on Point of Care Innovations to Enter EHR Market

Company Developing Easy, Affordable Solution for Solo and Small Group Physician Practices

HIMSS 2010

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Building on its leadership in providing innovative mobile medical reference tools for physicians, Epocrates, Inc. announced today that it will soon enter the electronic health records (EHR) market with the development of a new EHR solution. The company is designing a mobile and web-based offering that meets the unique needs of solo and small group physician practices. This news comes as executives and vendors convene at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference and exhibition in Atlanta, Ga. to advance the future of health information technology (HIT).

Allscripts Remote (access your EHR using a smartphone)

The other day, I got into a conversation regarding the use of smartphones to access electronic health records (EHRs). We had been talking about Epic, eClinicalWorks, Practice Fusion, NextGen, GE Centricity, AthenaHealth, and a few other major EHR solutions. Then the conversation shifted to Allscripts Remote. Are you familiar with this solution? Here's a snippet from the Allscripts website:

Allscripts Remote™ enables providers to remotely control their Allscripts Enterprise EHR or Allscripts Professional EHR from any location. In a matter of seconds, providers can access the power of their practice’s EHR through their Apple® iPhone™, iPod Touch®, BlackBerry®, or Windows Mobile device.

With Allscripts Remote, difficult medical decisions that need to be made while out of the office, at the hospital, on call or on personal time can be made more effectively – thus helping providers take control of their time. And with Allscripts Remote, these decisions and actions are recorded in the Allscripts EHR for an immediate, complete and accurate patient record.

Compatible with Enterprise EHR v11 and Professional EHR v. 8.1 and higher, Remote is offered at no cost to physicians for a free thirty day trial.

You can learn more about Allscripts Remote by visiting the corporate website here. I wonder when they will release a native app for smartphones running Android.

Here's some more information about Allscripts Remote:

Epic releases iPhone app called Haiku (Electronic Health Record)

According to this story on Healthcare IT News:

Electronic health record vendor Epic has just released Haiku, an iPhone application that provides authorized users with secure access to schedules, patient lists, health summaries, test results and notes.

The app is a free download on iTunes, but the user must belong to an organization that licenses Haiku and is currently on Epic's Summer 2009, according the the product description on iTunes.

What other Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendor has an iPhone app?

• Allscripts has one. 
• NextGen will be releasing an EHR Mobile app for the iPhone. 
• eClinicalWorks will be coming out with eClinicalMobile 2.0, an iPhone app. 

I'm sure we'll see other EHR/EMR vendors come out with iPhone apps in 2010. Where are the Android apps? 

2010: Android vs. iPhone

In 2010, I think the Apple iPhone will face some serious competition against Google's Android smartphones. HTC and Motorola have come out with some really nice Android smartphones. Google has the Nexus One. HTC has some nice new models launching in 2010.

As a result, you have many hardware options if you choose Android. If you want a thin touch-screen phone, you've got that in the HTC Droid Eris, the T-Mobile myTouch, or the HTC Hero. If you want a hardware QWERTY keyboard, you can get that with the Motorola Droid or some of the newer HTC smartphones. 

Apple will always have a loyal base of users, but many non-Mac users will easily make the switch from iPhone to Android if they don't need to switch wireless carriers and if they have Windows-based PCs at home and at work. I know that many physicians love their Macs, but they're stuck with Windows-based PCs at work to run their Electronic Health Records (EHRs) or Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). Right now, several EHR vendors have developed iPhone apps for their system, but it's only a matter of time before we see some Android solutions as well.

Android will be used on mobile devices beyond the smartphone, so it will quickly become a ubiquitous mobile operating system. Apple may come out with a tablet running the iPhone OS, but that won't compete against all the laptops and mini computers that may be running Android as a complimentary OS. 2010 should be a very interesting year for Android and iPhone.

Zynx Health and eClinicalWorks join forces: Zynx AmbulatoryCare

Please refer to the post on MedicineandTechnology.com: Zynx Health and eClinicalWorks join forces: Zynx AmbulatoryCare

Medical smartphone use in other countries

How are smartphones used by medical professionals in other countries? The U.S. is reacting to a major push by President Obama to incorporate electronic health records (EHRs) and to leverage computerized physician order entry (CPOE) systems. As a result, we've seen a surge of medical applications for smartphones, especially the Apple iPhone. Several EHR vendors are providing iPhone apps for their EHR platform. I expect we will see many more as health information technology (health IT, HIT, HITECH) becomes the cornerstone to healthcare reform in this country.

So what about other countries? What about places where technology has deeply penetrated the entire market? I think about Asia. In metropolitan areas like Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Seoul, we see mobile phones used everywhere - even underground. Are doctors in Asian countries using smartphones for many medical applications? Or, are they mainly using them like ordinary consumers?

So what about other non-Asian nations? Are physicians leveraging the wealth of smartphone clinical support tools as they treat patients at the point of care? President Obama is using health IT to push healthcare reform efforts. If other countries also need to reform their healthcare system, should they follow the same model and leverage health IT resources?

Patient Tracking Software for Smartphones and PDAs

Does it make sense to run patient tracking software on smartphones or PDAs? If you are running an EHR (Electronic Health Record) in your hospital and you're able to access the same data on your smartphone, then that's the ideal situation. Otherwise, I wonder if it makes sense to use a smartphone to re-record all that data. If you work in a hospital that doesn't employ digital records, then be patient (forgive the pun) because that will change very shortly. Hospitals that don't have EHRs and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) will have them within a few years.

If I were starting my clinical clerkships or residency next month, I don't think I'd try to use a smartphone to track my patients. I don't know that it's worth the extra effort considering that you're probably surrounded by computers everywhere. If anything, I'd advocate for the use of an ultra-mobile PC so that you can gain access to all the digital records and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) when you're on-the-go.

Mobile EHRs for the Apple iPhone

I was having an online discussion today and the question came up: which Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have an application for the Apple iPhone? I know of two major EHR companies that are developing iPhone apps:

1. Nextgen EHR Mobile
   
2. eClinicalWorks and eClinicalMobile

I'm sure there are others out there, but I thought I'd start the discussion with these two. These two are currently in development (unless I'm mistaken) and should be available sometime this year.

Lock Your Phone

If you carry a smartphone, do you keep it locked? I don't mean the simple "slide to unlock" feature found on the Apple iPhone. I'm talking about a security feature that includes a password so that others can't access your phone.

Many clinicians keep very confidential data on their smartphones (even patient information) and this may become a liability if you accidentally lose your device. Data security breaches are occurring all over the country and it's becoming increasingly important to ensure that we're doing everything possible to secure and protect patient data. Even if you don't have any important patient data on your phone, make sure to always lock it so that you protect yourself.

Top Posts in April 2009

Top posts for April 2009:

1. What's the Best Smartphone for Physicians?

2. More EHRs Compatible with Smartphones

3. iPhone Application for OB/GYN

4. Smartphone Use Increasing Among Physicians

5. Get a Free Palm Pre as a Reviewer