Mobile Health

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Most Doctors Interested in Mobile Access to EHR Systems, Survey Finds

Ninety-one percent of surveyed physicians are interested in accessing electronic health records through mobile devices, according to a survey by health IT company Vitera Healthcare Solutions, Becker's Hospital Review reports (Roney, Becker's Hospital Review, 8/17).

Vitera currently is developing a mobile EHR product, which it plans to release in October.

The survey is based on responses from 240 Vitera customers, most of whom are office-based physicians (Terry, InformationWeek, 8/16).

Current Uses of Mobile Devices

Seventy-two percent of the survey respondents said they currently use mobile devices for health care purposes, but only 6% said they use their mobile device to access EHRs or submit electronic prescriptions.

The survey also found that:

  • 55% of respondents said they use their mobile device to email, phone, text or send other communications;
  • 20% said they use their mobile device to perform medical research outside of the office; and
  • 14% said they use their mobile device as a remote desktop solution.

Interest in Using Mobile Devices for Health Care

When asked about the types of functions they would like to perform using mobile devices:

  • 93% of respondents cited reviewing patient charts;
  • 87% cited updating patient charts;
  • 86% cited ordering prescriptions;
  • 82% cited documenting a patient encounter; and
  • 67% cited performing out-of-office activities (Becker's Hospital Review, 8/17).



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