Inside the Briefcase
Allscripts’ Mobile EHR Tool Provides a Lesson in Innovation
November 3, 2011 No CommentsSOURCE: Ovum Research
Allscripts recently announced a new mobile EHR solution that it has temporarily called “Wombat”. The vendor designed the product exclusively for the iPad, directly involving Apple in the development process. Wombat has created a lot of buzz and excitement among the company’s customer base of nearly 180,000 physicians. While the tool does not have the full functionality of Allscripts’ traditional EHR, it more than compensates for this by being responsive to physician culture, with considerable resources channeled toward ensuring that it integrates well with the everyday lives of physicians. While the new product is certainly innovative, Ovum wonders whether Allscripts’ decision to focus all its efforts on developing a solution to be used exclusively on the iPad is a wise long-term choice. It is likely that many other vendors will follow Allscripts’ lead, but not all physicians use an iPad, and vendors could suffer if the tides turn and other tablet platforms gain increased traction in the market.
