Functions That All EHR Apps Should Have

by Sync MD Electronic Health Record App

Health apps have become a growing niche in the app market, comprising around 6% of all available apps in major app stores. On the Google Play Store alone, there are more than 40,000. And these are just the purely medicine-related apps, not the ones that are also categorized in Health & Fitness.

One of the most popular apps is the electronic health record app, which compiles your medical data and allows you to access them through your mobile devices.

There have been attempts to determine what exactly are the basic functions of an e-health record that should be available on an app in order to be effective for doctors.

According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, these features should be included in an EHR app:

Store Patient Records

The online documentation of patient's medical information and reports also includes managing their

History and demographics - allows for the reviewing of the patient's past medical treatments or surgeries, and a brief background on their family history and demographics.

Patient problems - create a list of the conditions that are specific to the patient.

Medications - manage a list of the medications that the patient has been prescribed with, and includes specific dosages and interaction warnings.

Manage clinical documents - creating, correcting, and authenticating medical documentations and notes, either transcribed or directly inputted.

Tools for managing patient care plans and instructions - Provide tools for developing plans and guidelines for patient care. These can be for patient-specific, condition-specific, or for standard care. It also includes instructions for before and after procedures and requirements after discharge.

Manage test results - Allow the physician to review, filter, and compare past and present medical test results from the patient.

Alerts and Reminders

Provide the physician with notifications for the following:

Scheduled patient care routines
Upcoming medical tests and procedures
Follow-up on instructions for patient

Task assignment and Tracking

Delegate tasks to the responsible personnel, linking said tasks to the related patients, and tracking tasks to ensure that they have been accomplished.

Communication network

Provide a secure communication channel between the following:

Physician to other healthcare providers
Physician to pharmacies
Physician to patient and family

These features in electronic health records allow healthcare providers to provide a higher standard of care for their patients while making their operations more streamlined and efficient For an even smoother workflow, they can coordinate with their peers and personnel and choose from the best available medical history apps on Android and iOS.