Hospital IT Europe is first to cover our smartphone API. This means any developer of smartphone apps can integrate their software with Patients Know Best. Already, we have four different apps built by outside companies, even though we only created the API over Christmas, and we only told a few of our customers about it.

A smartphone apps API is one of the advantages of PKB being the only global provider of patient-controlled medical records. First, because we are global, developers like building software that integrates with our platform as they have a global market. Two of the apps developed are US ones, and the other two are from the UK, but all the developers know they can count on us for US HIPAA compliance; EU data protection act compliance; and UK NHS N3 integration.

Second, unlike other software providers, we do not view the data as our own – it is the patient’s. So we want all the patient to move that data to anywhere they choose, rather than forcing them to use our software. By contrast most health care software providers only let the data move between their own software products. Even Kaiser Permenante, a US health care provider who have a tremendously successful patient portal and recently released their own smartphone app, place the same restriction on their patients: the patients can only use the data with Kaiser Permanente.

Third, once you give independent developers a global market, they create applications that are tailored for each patient group. Each of the developers integrating with PKB is working with the top specialists in their field to create the best app. For example, one developer has created an app that uses the iPhone’s microphone to record the patient for speech and language therapists. The developers are total audio geeks, perfecting the algorithm each week with an ENT professor. Another developer has created an asthma app that tells the patient which medication to take based on their peak flow and their PKB personal health plan. They are working with another professor on the best user interface for monitoring compliance. And a third developer has developed one of the top headache apps on the Android store and is now integrating it into PKB to work with migraine specialists.

Finally, because we take care of the data storage, the costs of development are two orders of magnitude lower than for a traditional smartphone healthcare app. This means any clinician with an idea can quickly find a developer to bring it to life at a cost below the procurement threshold of most hospitals. This is how patient control brings innovation into the health care system.

Healthcare apps requested by EMR company

Monday 6th February 2012

Patients Know Best (PKB), the world’s first patient-controlled electronic medical records system, is inviting smartphone app developers to integrate their healthcare apps with its platform.

Integrating with PKB will mean that data from the phones of patients anywhere in the world can now be shared with the medical professionals treating them – improving patient care.

Developers of smartphone apps – which can have a range of functions such as monitoring a particular disease or diagnosing a certain condition – often face technical barriers when trying to link up their services to hospital systems.

Furthermore, each country has its own legislation for medical records, fragmenting the market for app developers.

Patients Know Best has solved this problem by complying with US and EU legislation and by integrating with the UK’s NHS secure network.

This means a developer who integrates their app with Patients Know Best can serve customers across the USA and EU.

Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli , founder and CEO of Patients Know Best said:  “There are many innovative healthcare apps out there – and lots more in development – but at the moment, the data that patients tap into the phone usually stays on the phone.

“We’re changing this because we think it’s important that clinicians and doctors can access this information too – and we’re calling on app innovators to come forward with their designs.”

Operating like a ‘secure Facebook’, PKB integrates fully into any medical records system, including NHS secure network, and is available for use by any patient with any clinician anywhere in the world.

PKB is currently working with four smartphone app developers and has already successfully integrated two app designs with its software systems.

One of the apps is for US asthma patients, another is for speech and language therapy departments.

“At Patients Know Best, we think people should be able to manage their healthcare in a way that’s right for them,” said Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli.

“With more people now using a mobile or smartphone than a computer, there’s a huge audience out there who can benefit from using new and innovative healthcare apps.”