Healthcare Innovators

Health information technology provider PatientKeeper announced this week that its Mobile Clinical Results software, which provides physicians with "anytime, anywhere" access to their patients' medical records, now supports the Google Android operating system.

The Newton, Mass.-based company said the move will help PatientKeeper tap into a growing market of physicians who are turning to Android devices to access medical records. The company also noted that handheld devices that run its software are used by nearly 24,000 physicians at more than 400 hospitals.

"Android devices are gaining momentum in the handheld marketplace generally -- they are incredibly powerful, and we are seeing more interest in them among our customers and prospects," Peter Henderson, VP of marketing at PatientKeeper, told InformationWeek. "The Android OS is relatively easy for developers to work with, so expect to see many more apps for Android coming to market in the next year, which will fuel further adoption."

PatientKeeper Mobile Clinical Results is a clinical application that provides physicians with information on patient clinical data. According to the company, the software can be configured to the workflow of each physician. Screens can be customized and modules can be changed to fit the requirements of each physician or specialty. Lab results can be displayed in multiple formats -- including lists, graphs, tables, or fishbone diagrams.

The company also announced that its PatientKeeper Charge Capture, an application that enables physicians to accurately record their patient charges, now supports BlackBerry, Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad.

Henderson noted that the federal government's push to digitize medical records as well as the need for healthcare delivery organizations to demonstrate that they are meaningfully using health IT as a way to qualify for reimbursements under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' electronic health record (EHR) incentive programs, has helped accelerate PatientKeeper's business.

He also said the technology is easy to deploy and that PatientKeeper's mobile platform enables healthcare providers to aggregate data from multiple applications on the latest mobile platforms, including Apple iOS, BlackBerry, Android, and Windows Mobile operating systems.

"Several of our offerings -- specifically computerized physician order entry (CPOE) and physician documentation software -- offer critical functionality to hospitals that are looking to meet meaningful use requirements," Henderson said. "Everything we design and deliver is from the physician's perspective, optimized for physician usability, and we integrate with every popular hospital backend system. That means PatientKeeper's applications sit on top of existing hospital IT infrastructure -- there's no 'rip and replace' required," Henderson added.