Docs Looking to Use Mobile EHRs

Mobile devices are being used more and more by health care professionals for work purposes and electronic health records (EHR) are becoming more common, but as of right now, few health professionals marry the two technologies, according to Vitera Healthcare Solutions.

According to the EHR Solutions and Mobile Technologies Survey, only 6% of health professionals currently use their mobile devices to connect to EHRs or to e-prescribe, yet 72% use mobile devices for other work purposes.

Physicians are by far the group most interested in a mobile EHR solution. While less than half (43%) of billing managers and two-thirds of practice administrators expressed interest in mobile EHR, 91% of physicians said they were interested.

“Health care professionals are embracing the convenience of mobile technology to handle a number of work tasks, but want to expand this ability by having a mobile EHR solution,” Matthew Hawkins, chief executive officer of Vitera Healthcare Solutions, said in a statement. “In the same manner that other professionals are able to enjoy the benefits of their mobile device as an office on-the-go, practice physicians, executives and managers are looking for the same accessibility to provide more efficient care for their patients.”

Right now the most typical uses for health professionals to use their mobile devices for work are email, phone, text and other communications (55%), medical research on the go (20%), and remote desktop solution (14%).

Survey results showed that the key features respondents are looking for in a mobile EHR solution are the ability to review (93%) and update (87%) a patient’s chart and order prescriptions (86%).

Also, Vitera’s survey proved that Apple’s products reign superior in the medical world. Most respondents said they use iPhones (60%), while 45% use iPads and 38% use Android smartphones.

Vitera is working on its own mobile EHR solution that will be designed for the iPad but also usable on the iPhone. The application should debut in October with Android and Windows platforms to follow.