MEDecision launches EHR app for smartphones

MEDecision is pushing the electronic health record all the way out into clinician's hands with a new app for its InFrame product. The new app, available March 30 through Apple's iTunes store, will allow clinicians to access patient records from smartphones, tablets and other portable devices, the company says.

The record is a "clinical summary" that includes summaries of the patient's medical history, meds list, conditions list, admisions history, ER history and lists of recent treatments or services. MEDecision also offers analytic software that builds on the EHR data to provide nurses or doctors with suggested care plans, best practices and possible treatment options.

"Mobile applications and the devices that deliver them are the future of technology in general and health IT in particular," MEDecision executive vice president Eric Demers said in a statement. "With the In-Frame app, we're putting critical health information at the fingertips of those who need it virtually anywhere at any time."

The vendor is betting on projections like those from the Manhattan Research Company, which said in late 2010 that 72 percent of physicians were using smartphones at the time, and a full 81 percent would be using them by 2012.

It'll be interesting to see if, after debuting the app at HIMSS11, MEDecision will also plug the technology into its high-profile demo project with the Minnesota state government. The company announced last week that it is creating a personal health record system for state employees, using its "health decision support serivce." The service is powered with data from health insurance claims, which the system analyzes to identify ways members could improve health and reduce costs.

To learn more:
- read the MEDecision announcement
- check out this Health Data Management brief
- here's the announcement regarding the HIMSS demo