For iPhone users, there seems to an endless stream of innovative apps and one of the newest allows patients to access personal medical records while they're on-the-go.
Sutter Health in California became the first healthcare system in the state to provide patients access to "MyChart for the iPhone," an app from tech company Epic that allows patients to access their electronic health records using an iPhone, iPad or an iPod touch. MyChart allows users to send a secure message to their doctor, check lab or test results, view or schedule appointments, and receive reminders about scheduling routine checkups and exams.
"The MyChart app literally puts the tools patients need to manage their health right at their fingertips," said Albert Chan, MD, a family medicine physician with Sutter-affiliated Palo Alto Medical Foundation. "And it's really helpful in reminding patients when they're due for preventive care for things like pap smears, mammograms or flu shots."
The tool alerting users that it's time to schedule annual screenings and tests serves a dual purpose. It helps patients maintain a schedule of preventive care while driving more business to providers that may have been overlooked without a reminder.
Sutter Health, which is based in Sacramento and operates 24 hospitals and 17 outpatient centers in California, is marketing "MyChart for the iPhone" through a network of online sites including FaceBook, Twitter and its own Web site. For now, only patients who are signed up for Sutter Health's My Health Online service can use the app, since they need to have a pre-existing connection to Sutter's online network. Chan said there are more than 400,000 Sutter Health patients signed on to My Health Online and he expects word-of-mouth from users to spread the word about MyChart through a sort of informal viral campaign.
"We launched on Jan. 3 and we already have users posting messages on FaceBook about how cool the new app is," said Chan. "So we expect people who were already using My Health Online to spread the word about the new iPhone app." Sutter is also promoting My Health Online with YouTube videos that feature patients describing how they use the service. They include a mother talking about how she uses My Health to manage her family's healthcare. The app is free to Sutter Health as part of its online services contract with Epic.
Other healthcare providers using the new iPhone app are taking a similar approach by using social networks and their own Web sites to spread the word. The Dean Clinic in Wisconsin was the first health system to launch MyChart for the iPhone in September 2010. "We see this is as a valuable service to our patients," said Dean Clinic project manager D.J. Curran. "The app gives patients fast, secure and convenient access to the most frequently used features of MyChart."
SSM Medical Groups in Missouri began offering the app to patients in October. Since then, spokeswoman Kristen Johnson said 485 patients have signed up for the service.
Overall, more than a dozen healthcare providers across the U.S. have adopted the MyChart app, including Oregon Health & Services University, Hawaiian Pacific Health, Baylor Clinic in Texas, and The Institute for Family Health in New York.
See Also:
Sutter Health Physician Data Available Via Mobile App
Margaret Dick Tocknell is a reporter/editor with HealthLeaders Media.
