Community Health Network

Powering Self-Service Healthcare with Mobile Apps

The Dream: A Self-Service Experience

Imagine a loved one is seeking care. They need a primary care physician close to mass transit and appointment times that work with their schedule. They’re frustrated by the confusing, automated phone tree systems and the long wait times to speak to a scheduler.

Community Health Network understood this all too common challenge. They set out to transform the care landscape and deliver the ease of self-service to their community.

All Apps are Not Created Equal

To fulfill their promise, Community sought to re-envision their mobile app for both iOs and Android. The key to this was a three-part integration which included their cloud-based electronic health record (EHR) platform, Kyruus, a provider search and appointment scheduling software, and DexCare, an additional scheduling tool that facilitates booking appointments at pharmacy clinics, urgent cares, and virtual visits. Community also wanted an updated design and UX for their app to achieve a modern, easy-to-use, on-brand app digital experience.

Phase2 built a React Native application as the foundation for all the third party integrations (EHR, Kyruus, DexCare) as well as consuming content from their Drupal platform’s content management system (CMS). Community’s app is a self-submitted app (vs. an EHR-submitted app). The consumer benefits of this type of app are many.

As we continue to provide exceptional care, simply delivered, we strive to better our consumers' needs, meet them where they are, and remove any obvious friction points. We used this collaboration as an opportunity to expand and advance the consumer experience to be a frictionless journey, enhancing our patient acquisition and retention efforts.

Debbie Kenemer | Executive Director, Digital Marketing, Community Health Network

Seamless Integrations, Ease of Use

First, the app offers features not provided through the EHR—actions like accessing Community events, making urgent care appointments, and paying bills. Secondly, the app experience isn’t constrained by web browsers or limited to webviews from the parent site. This translates into easier, more intuitive interactions for the consumer. Additionally, native apps leverage a device’s capabilities—meaning, the Community app accommodates the design requirements from both platforms (unique behaviors, radio buttons, text boxes, etc.). The result? The experiences on Android and iOS devices feel familiar for the consumer.

For Community, the operational benefits are immense. The new app integrates with any API—it’s not limited to web-based technologies—providing ample room for future expansion. And any device’s accessibility APIs are integrated—like location services, GPS, and push notifications. Finally, this app is fully branded—allowing Community Health Network to have complete creative control over every aspect of their digital presence.

The Dream Realized: Exceptional Care, Simply Delivered

Community Health Network’s new app consolidates its healthcare offerings into easily navigable pathways. Upon opening the app, the consumer is dropped immediately into their care journey. The app provides seamless transitions from the EHR to locations and providers.
The EHR integration allows providers to be messaged, view test results, and eases the inpatient experience during hospital stays as well—enabling things like special requests, meal ordering, and more.

Perhaps most importantly, consumers can find providers quickly—filtering by location, specialty, visit type, provider gender, and language. Appointments can be booked without leaving the search experience.

Specifically, the new Community Health Network app provides:

An improved provider search experience with clearly accessible filters and enhanced provider profiles
The ability to see a provider’s availability in Kyruus and book an appointment directly in the app
Integration with a device’s phone app and video for telehealth (click a phone number to initiate a call)
Integration with a device’s GPS (search for providers within range of current location)
Integration with a device’s maps app (click an address to launch directions to that location)
Push notifications for real-time patient updates
A flexible foundation for all future integrations

Additionally, care locations are integrated with an API and the Community website. The mobile app ingests the site content and displays it within the native app interface. As a result:

Location content is displayed within an interface designed specifically for mobile.

Community Health Network’s content team maintains all the location data in one place—Community’s CMS. When changes are made, they are reflected across both the web and mobile app platforms. This is a huge time saver for the content team.

Community Health Network’s consumers now have full access to their own care—their medical information, providers, care locations, and appointment-making—all in the palms of their hands.

Transforming Community Health

Community Health Network, a central Indiana non-profit health system with deep community ties stretching across more than six decades, offers a full continuum of care that integrates hundreds of physicians, specialty and acute care hospitals, surgery centers, home care services, MedChecks, behavioral health, and employer health services.

Community Health Network focuses on population health management and to that end, they are transforming the consumer experience—providing exceptional care that is simply delivered.

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