The digital health space is constantly evolving, and mental health is one of its rapidly growing areas. Traditionally, mental health providers could use off-the-shelf telemedicine solutions like Zoom for video consultations. However, some mental health clinics are striving to offer a more tailored patient experience and comprehensive services, including prescriptions, repeat appointments, insurance billing, and mid-session communications.

Developing custom patient experiences and provider-specific workflows from scratch can be expensive and cost-prohibitive for new startups. A solution to this issue is integrating telemedicine experiences with existing EHR systems. This approach allows startups to focus their efforts on creating custom patient workflows while benefiting from the existing functionalities developed by the EHR provider.

In this article, we will explore:

The Benefits of EHR Integration for Mental Health Apps

EHR integration offers several advantages for mental health apps, including:

Streamlined workflows: EHR integration automates processes, reduces manual data entry, and saves time, allowing healthcare providers to focus on patient care.
Improved patient care: With access to a patient's complete medical history, healthcare providers can make more informed decisions about treatment.
Enhanced communication: Integrated solutions facilitate secure and efficient information sharing between healthcare providers, leading to better patient care.
Regulatory compliance: EHR integration helps providers meet healthcare regulations and avoid penalties.
Increased accessibility: Patients can easily access their health records and communicate with healthcare providers through the integrated app.
Data analytics: EHR integration provides valuable insights into patient populations, enabling targeted interventions and continuous care improvement.
Interoperability: Integration bridges the gap between different healthcare systems, promoting better data sharing and communication.
Remote monitoring: EHR systems can monitor patients' health remotely, providing healthcare providers with real-time data for timely intervention and improved outcomes.

EHR integration may seem daunting due to the associated costs and the complex process of integrating major EHR systems. However, smaller EHRs tend to offer flexible pricing and are often open to developing custom functionality or APIs for specific use cases. This flexibility makes EHR integration more accessible for smaller clinics and physician groups.

Kepler Case: How an EHR Integration Helped a Mental Health Tech Company Enhance Patient Care and Get Acquired

Let's take a closer look at the case of one of our clients who took this route in 2021. With the help of the Kepler Team, the company built their mental health app on the basis of Charm EHR, enhancing the user experience and overall efficiency for both patients and healthcare providers.

When the company approached Kepler Team two years ago, they had the idea of creating a safe and secure platform for providing medication-based therapy to users suffering from depression and other mental health issues. They had already been successfully providing their services to numerous clients but had been missing a designated app for facilitating the flow. They had only been using Zoho flow, which contained separate pages where their staff would send links to potential clients. The clients could then use the link to book appointments and join sessions, but most of the workflows were handled manually.

One of the major steps towards launching and scaling the platform was its integration with an EHR system. An EHR integration makes it easier for healthcare providers to access a patient’s complete medical history and make more informed decisions about their care, as well as streamlines many processes that otherwise would require time-consuming manual work.

The company selected Charm EHR as their EHR partner because it was a product of Zoho Creators, and they were already working closely with Zoho Flow and Zoho CRM. As EHR integrations are one of Kepler Team’s major areas of expertise, we were ready to step it.

After analyzing Charm EHR's API and understanding the mental health app's functionality, we began building the integration framework. At this stage, we created an interface between the two systems that allowed seamless communication and data transfer.

To ensure the success of the integration, we tracked key metrics, such as the number of successful data transfers and the time saved by healthcare providers. We also collected feedback from the company and end-users to identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments.

Developing a product on the basis of an existing EHR system allowed us to concentrate on creating a patient-facing portal while leveraging the backend tasks of the HIPAA-compliant EHR system. This strategic decision offered several advantages:

Cost savings: The startup saved money on development by utilizing the existing infrastructure and functionalities of the EHR system.
Reduced liability: By integrating with an EHR, the startup offloaded the responsibility of storing patient data securely to the established, HIPAA-compliant system.
Quick product launch: The integration allowed the startup to rapidly launch a full product cycle, from provider verification to e-prescribing and pharmacy integrations.
Custom branding and unique features: Despite using an existing EHR system, the startup created a product that looked completely on-brand from the patient's perspective, while offering distinctive features that set it apart from competitors. These features included the ability to purchase a series of treatments, musical accompaniment during sessions with nurses, and the option to send feedback and communicate with clinical providers between sessions.

Once the integrated app was ready for use, we decided to discontinue Zoho Flow to streamline the app's functionality further. This decision ensured a more efficient and user-friendly experience for patients and healthcare providers alike.

Some Challenges We Encountered

Lack of API Documentation

During the integration process, the Kepler Team found that some critical features they were trying to build lacked proper API documentation. To overcome this roadblock, we communicated the issue directly to Charm EHR, who agreed to develop custom APIs and functionalities based on the client's requests.

Limitations in Charm EHR Functionality

Certain specific features that the team planned to build were not supported by Charm EHR's existing functionality. To address this challenge, we conducted extra research and found alternative solutions that allowed us to achieve the desired outcomes.

The successful EHR integration led to a fully HIPAA-compliant telemedicine platform that was well-received by both health professionals and patients. In 2022, the company was acquired by a major medical research firm.

If you're interested in learning more about the challenges of EHR integration, you may find it helpful to check out our article on the top 5 challenges in EHR integration and how to tackle them. We discuss some of the most common challenges faced by healthcare innovators on the way to EHR integration, including collaborating with big EHR vendors, dealing with the differences between each EHR system, and more.

Key Results We Achieved by Integrating with Charm

Streamlined Booking System

The EHR integration allowed the app to access the availability of all nurses and providers directly from Charm EHR. This made it easier for patients to book appointments and provided a more seamless experience, as everything was consolidated in one place.

Improved Assessments and Intake Forms

By leveraging Charm EHR's functionality for collecting patient intake information, nurses could easily access this information during their sessions with patients. This allowed healthcare providers to make more informed decisions about patient care, ultimately improving the overall treatment process.

Enhanced Communication and Data Sharing

The integration facilitated better communication between healthcare providers by enabling them to securely and efficiently share important patient information. This improvement enhanced the coordination of patient care and allowed providers to work together more effectively.

Automation and Reduction of Manual Work

The EHR integration helped automate many processes that previously required manual data entry, which saved time and improved clinical efficiency, allowing healthcare providers to focus more on patient care.

Conclusion

EHR integration offers numerous benefits for mental health apps, including improved patient care, streamlined workflows, and enhanced communication. By integrating telemedicine experiences with existing EHR systems, mental health startups can focus on creating custom patient workflows while benefiting from the existing functionalities of the EHR system.

If you're ready to take your health app to the next level with EHR integration, our team of experts at Kepler Team is here to guide you through every step of the process. Contact us today to start your journey toward a seamlessly integrated solution!