Drchrono, a cloud-based electronic health record, has inked a deal with UK-based telehealth company Physitrack — a business that supports remote physical therapy monitoring and patient engagement. Henrik Molin, Physitrack CEO and cofounder, credited Apple’s Mobility Partner Program with bringing the two companies together in an interview with MobiHealthNews.
“This is a perfect example of Apple’s accelerated Mobility Partner Program, as it was Apple that came to both of us to look at what we could to do create an integrated, seamless experience,” Molin said. “It runs on all the bells and whistles of our program to give doctors a way to provide home exercises, specialized telehealth, outcomes reporting and analytics, and it all fits very snugly inside drchrono’s EMR.”
Drchrono was the first EHR to build a native app for iPad and iPhone involvement.
Improving the mobile experience for physicians as well as the patient journey is how drchrono views its role in the collaboration with Physitrack, according to the MobiHealthNews article. Michael Nusimow, drchrono CEO and cofounder, said in a news release it was the first time therapeutic patient engagement and secure video consultations has been combined this way inside a practice EHR.
Although it is not widely publicized, Apple’s business to business partner program provides a way to facilitate the development of apps on the iOS network and fills a real need by playing matchmaker to companies with complementary business interests. The Wall Street Journal highlighted Apple’s initiative two years ago. The newspaper noted that amid flagging iPad sales at the time, Apple’s b2b sales were a bright spot.
The article highlighted how the program works:
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Apple reviews its partners’ apps and offers detailed suggestions, down to which words should be shaded in gray, according to meeting participants. Thanks to the partnership, an Apple ally got the company on the phone with an iPad business customer that had never heard from an Apple representative. And Apple has played match maker by encouraging makers of complementary programs such as employee scheduling software and digital cash register systems to create interconnected apps.
Other physical therapy remote monitoring companies are also forging ahead with partnerships. Earlier this month, Reflexion Health announced it is collaborating with Yale New Haven Hospital’s Center for Musculoskeletal Care to use Reflexion’s Virtual Exercise Rehabilitation Assistant to support recovery from joint replacement surgery.
The need for mobile solutions that can transmit information easily between patients from their homes to clinicians is critical. But more companies like drchrono will need to step up and provide a way to integrate this data easily into electronic health records if more institutions are going to increase adoption.
“Very few organizations have managed wide implementation of easily accessible and working solutions,” said Molin.
