Survey: “Meteoric” rise in mobile device EHR demand

When looking to make a switch in EHR vendors, physicians consider EHR integrated mobile apps as must-haves, according to global research firm Black Book Rankings' survey published on May 30.

“100 percent of medical practices considering changing EHR vendors now expect mobile access to patient information wherever physicians provide or review care," according to the report.

This most recent survey of physicians follows the February publication of its annual poll, “Year of the Big EHR Switch," in which one in five physicians expressed a high likelihood of changing EHR systems after disappointing first vendor results.

In the latest poll, results suggested a strong desire among physicians to optimize use of apps to improve their clinical practice. While 89 percent of primary care and internal medicine physicians use smartphones to primarily communicate with staff and 51 percent of clinicians use tablets to perform independent medical reference and internet research, less than 1 percent of respondents estimated they are maximizing use of their mobile clinical and business applications, according to the report.

Relatedly, only 8 percent of office-based physicians use a mobile device for e-prescribing, accessing records, ordering tests or viewing results, but 83 percent of respondents said they would immediately utilize mobile EHR functionalities for these tasks if available through their current EHR vendor. “A mandate has been issued and progressive vendors are reacting,” said Doug Brown, managing partner of Black Book Research, in a statement.

Also in the study, the entities most anticipating the use of mobile applications include: 100 percent hospitalists; 98 percent primary care/ general and family practice; 97 percent internal medicine; 92 percent office-based physicians; 88 percent rheumatology; and 87 percent nephrology. Surgeons and ears nose throat specialists had the lowest interest in mobile and iPad devices at less than 14 percent on average.

Per the survey, the most popular mobile devices currently used by physicians and practices were: iPhones (68 percent); iPads and tablets (59 percent); and smart and android phones (31 percent).

More information on the report is here.