Last week, Mobile Heartbeat posted an article introducing the CUREConnect APIs. Since then, we have received a number of inquiries from prospective partners and clients looking for more information on the InterApp API. This post will dive a little deeper into InterApp, explaining what it is, what it does and what Mobile Heartbeat hopes to help our customers and partners accomplish with it.

What is the InterApp API?

The InterApp API can be simply described as a method to create linkages between MH-CURE and other apps on a mobile device. It’s the equivalent of saving a bookmark to a specific sub-page you want to visit within a website. Instead of navigating to the website’s homepage and manually clicking links to get to the desired page, you link straight to it from the bookmark. Your login credentials can be included as well as other contextual information to enable automated logins and workflow-specific functions.

When this concept is applied within MH-CURE and other partner applications, it’s easy to see how much time this saves end-users. Instead of manually logging into another app and searching for the specific screens and information pertinent to their workflows, the user simply taps an app icon and they are done. The InterApp API streamlines the entire process.

What does it do?

InterApp supports both outbound launching from MH-CURE to another mobile app, as well as inbound launching from a third-party app into MH-CURE. Using trust-based authentication, the switching between apps can be streamlined for the end-user by passing the username and password to automate logging in. Additionally, information from one app can be passed to the other, like patient MRN, user or patient facility, among others.

A lesser-known but equally important feature is that InterApp enables launching into other parts of MH-CURE with a single tap. Want to put a “Send a Text to the IT Help Desk” on the initial screen? Easy. Want to add an “SOS” button to contact the Security Office? Only takes a few minutes to it add to all of your smartphones. In essence, InterApp gives you control over how your CC&C platform appears and acts for your hospital.

Example: Inbound InterApp Launch:

Mobile Heartbeat’s integration partnership with TeleTracking is a great example of an inbound launch. TeleTracking focuses on optimizing patient flow throughout the hospital, from admit to discharge. An important part of optimizing patient flow is providing the highly mobile members of the care team with the ability to communicate in real-time and take action. Via TeleTracking, a user is alerted that an action needs to be taken from their app. The InterApp integration enables them to tap a Launch Point within the TeleTracking app, switch over to MH-CURE, automatically log in and send a text message or make a call to whomever they need to take action.

Example: Outbound InterApp Launch:

Mobile Heartbeat’s integration with AirStrip is representative of what can be achieved through an outbound InterApp launch. AirStrip ONE is a mobile interoperability platform, enabling hospitals to pull together patient data from disparate systems into a single view for the care team. When a user needs to view this clinical data on-the-go, the AirStrip ONE mobile app enables them to do so. MH-CURE users who are in the middle of a text-based conversation about a patient can easily access the patient’s information within AirStrip through InterApp. MH-CURE then passes the currently- viewed patient information to AirStrip ONE allowing AirStrip to navigate directly to the live waveforms and other monitoring data of that specific patient – no lookup is required! 

What can we accomplish together?

By 2022, 98% of doctors and 97% of nurses believe that mobile devices will play a role in their daily workflows, according to a Zebra Technologies study. Today, Mobile Heartbeat’s customers have already stated they want to achieve as much as possible through their mobile devices from a workflow and communications perspective. With these objectives in mind, Mobile Heartbeat is committed to empowering our customers and partners by serving as a platform upon which these new workflows can be created. Through APIs like InterApp, we are opening up previously-restricted areas of MH-CURE to share data that enables these workflows to occur.

Please come visit us during the HIMSS18 event in Las Vegas. We are in booth #2461 and will have the InterApp capabilities on display. Our team can also help you brainstorm how you can use InterApp to revolutionize your users’ mobile experience.