Development of a mobile-app to enable communication between patients, pharmacists and physicians

Purpose- Today, healthcare in the United States is a highly fragmented system with failure of care-coordination estimated to cost the healthcare system between $27.2 billion to $78.2 billion. Fax and phone based communication between pharmacists and physicians often results in delays patient care. We aim to develop "HealthKnect", a web-based integrated platform to facilitate communication to help patients, pharmacists and providers solve delays and miscommunication. Methods- Market-research was conducted to identify available mobile applications focused on patient engagement with physicians and pharmacists. The desirable features of the proposed application were identified. A wire-frame was developed to design the interface of the application. The next step involves development of a functional web-based application with the help of a sub-contractor. Finally, the application will be pilot tested among various stakeholders to gather feedback and determine proof-of-concept. Results- The applications identified in the market-research fell in one of the following categories- (1) Tele-medicine and communication (2) E-prescription (3) prescription discounts and (4) Patient EHR portals. There was a lack of integrated platforms cutting across health systems and EHR barriers where patient-initiated communication could take place between physicians and pharmacists. Conclusion- HealthKnect serves to eliminate the "silo-approach" to healthcare delivery which leads to poor information flows due to lack of care-coordination between physicians and pharmacists. The application serves to empower patients and include pharmacists in digital collaboration for patient-care. The functional application is in the process of being developed.