American Journal of Managed Care: Integrating Third-Party Apps with Electronic Health Records to Support COVID-19 Response
This study found that the health IT market experienced a rapid increase in telehealth EHR integrations following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Telehealth EHR integrations were twice as likely to contain specialized capabilities for COVID-19 response compared to all apps listed in EHR app galleries. Approximately half of the telehealth apps identified in the study included video functionality. Nonvideo telehealth apps supported functionalities for scheduling and billing, digital check-in, secure messaging, and patient education. These findings demonstrate the potential of integrating third-party apps into EHRs to expand the range of tools that health care providers can use to diagnose, treat, and communicate with patients.