Epocrates, an early leader in online and mobile information for healthcare providers, has been delivering clinical and decision support tools to the healthcare community since its founding in 1998. Sean Handel, vice president of subscriber business for Epocrates, spoke at the fall 2010 Mobile Health Expo about the mobile healthcare information landscape, including the results from the fifth annual Future Physicians of America survey.
Sponsored by Epocrates, this survey polled more than 700 medical students who use the company's software. The survey found that this year’s students were twice as likely to turn to mobile references compared to respondents in 2009. Nearly 80 percent of students reported using Epocrates on a daily basis, with the majority using it multiple times throughout the day to confirm proper drug doses and check for adverse reactions or drug-drug interactions.
"Before Epocrates, students and residents had to turn to a peer or mentor for information, or search for it in traditional libraries,” Handel explained. “Even we were surprised that nearly every student participating in the survey said they are far more likely to use a drug reference tool than ask a peer or mentor a question," Handel said. "These students have grown-up with mobile phones and laptops living a hyper-connected life. These same students are the health care leaders of the future, and we are listening closely to them on reference and on EHRs to ensure we are building solutions that work within their practices.”
The study showed Apple mobile devices like the iPhone (News - Alert) and iPod touch are in the lead with nearly 70 percent of students currently using Apple products – a 37 percent increase over 2009 respondents. But Apple (News - Alert) is not without competition - more than 40 percent of future physicians plan to upgrade to a newer smartphone within the next year, and of those, and nearly a quarter will buy an Android (News - Alert) device.
Epocrates focus on clinical information and resource publications has enabled it thus far to by-pass some of the privacy, security and compliance issues associated with patient-centered mobile health apps and mobile transmission of electronic health records . But earlier this year Epocrates announced the availability of a mobile electronic health records (EHR) offering designed to serve independent and small group practices.
MedHealthWorld spoke with Sean Handel to ask about the company’s motivation for launching a mobile electronic health record service. "We’re already seeing tremendous adoption of mobile devices and applications in the field, particularly as more young physicians, nurses and specialists graduate. All the pieces are now coming together – the devices, the networks, the applications, the security features, and now the behaviors the next wave of healthcare professionals have grown up with,” Handel said.
“A huge part of our success has been focusing in on this category,” Handel explained, “where there is less bureaucracy and a service mentality one doesn’t often find in the large institutions and hospitals. We are very fortunate to have an installed base of “fans” of our original and ongoing solutions that trust the Epocrates team and brand. Now we are able to lead in the mobile and web-based EHR market. We’re getting an incredibly enthusiastic response and will continue to evolve and deepen our applications with the help of our customers.”
Handel also noted that the vast majority of medical students say the availability of mobile EHRS is an important factor in deciding where they will practice. “This new wave of physicians – and the next generation following them – are enthusiastic about the benefits of a solid EHR platform – they can stay connected to information and staff, while being able to spend more time with patients and less time with paperwork.
Key to growth is not only behavior, however,” Handel continued. “Funding the evolution of EHRs, funding new ways of mobile consults using 4G networks including interactive video, and getting recognition of the incredible efficiencies secure communications systems bring is still a challenge, but one we are surmounting, despite the economic climate. In fact, when healthcare reform is brought about through the evolution of EHR systems – and the groundswell of adoption by the next generation of healthcare providers – we will all recognize significant reduction in the cost of care.”
Asked about his goals at Epocrates, Sean Handel notes that he joined the company three years ago because he is passionate about the opportunity for mobile application to change forever the way healthcare is delivered. Handel is also passionate about partnerships – working with providers, other technology companies, organizations, labs, pharmaceutical companies and more – to continually enhance the ecosystem effect.
“There are an estimated 175,000 physicians on Apple devices now, with growing interest for the iPad,” Handel concluded. “Now we need to continue to create great applications – integrated applications – that flow into the working days and nights of healthcare professionals. There is so much opportunity - and it’s more important than ever to create a collective consciousness around what is possible, as barriers are coming down and opportunities to improve care and reduce complexity and errors rises. It’s great to be a part of this, and to feed off of the tremendous creativity and energy happening in the field, with this new crop of physicians – and their teams – and their patients – every day."