Best Mobile EHR software of 2026: which is right for you?

Digitalization is an industry-spanning paradigm shift that's transforming how business is conducted and how businesses operate. And hospitals and other medical practices are not exempt from this change.

Advances and increased accessibility to electronic health records (EHR) has given you and your peers a clear path to ride the wave of digitalization to operational excellence, improved patient experiences and overall financial success.

But not all mobile EHR software is created equal. So we've put together this guide to help you determine the must-have capabilities for your new system. You can also read through some key benefits of adopting a mobile EHR and home in on the features enabling the benefits most important to you. Use this guide as a starting point to ensure you choose the right software for your operations.

In this guide, we'll cover:

What Is Mobile EHR Software

Common Features of Mobile EHR Software

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Benefits of Adopting Mobile EHR Software

Market Trends to Understand in Mobile EHR Software

What Is Mobile EHR Software?

Electronic health records software (and its sister technology, electronic medical records software) are digital records management tools. Mobile-based EHR software simply implies these capabilities are available across various connected, authorized and secured devices. They provide all the functionality of EHR tools on mobile devices.

These systems provide digital documentation and patient information tools for recording, storing, analyzing and sharing basic and detailed patient information across practices.

The sharing across practices of information is a key capability of EHR software. It's also what differentiates these systems from their electronic medical records sibling systems. The two are essentially the same thing (and vendors will use the terms interchangeably), but EHR comes with the added benefit of interoperability, or the ability to securely and compliantly share patient records across providers. This enables users to:

• Spend more time with patients rather than worrying about tracking down scattered digital and paper documents

• Ensure other practitioners have the updated, critical information they need on a patient's health needs and history

• Get the payments they're owed with well-documented claims

And again, with the accessibility of mobile EHR, practitioners are able to access and leverage these tools on tablets, phones and other smart devices throughout the day.

Glimpse of mobile EHR software capabilities via drchrono EHR

There are three different deployment models for mobile EHR solutions. These include:

Native mobile EHRs. While the offerings here are limited, a mobile-first EHR is probably what you want most. This would be a app developed specifically for the specific mobile device platform you use.

Web browser-based EHRs. These systems are accessed through your mobile device's web browser. This option also grants seamless access via desktops and laptop computers for access across the board.

Remote-access EHRs. Many on-premise EHRs systems can be accessed directly through a server. While this does enable mobility, it can stifle the potential benefits, as this deployment essentially renders your mobile devices as if they were a desktop or laptop.

Common Features of Mobile EHR Software

Mobile EHR software provides practitioners and support staff with the necessary tools to consistently support excellent patient experiences. Key features include:

What Type of Buyer Are You?

Small practices. These buyers work for small practices with only a couple of health care providers. They are looking to automate and digitize medical processes. Cutting back on paper-based document management decreases the chance of human error, and provides more efficiency prescribing and integrating with labs.

Midsize to large practices. These buyers are at practices with anywhere from a few to over 100 physicians. These buyers are need to eliminate paper-based documentations and increase overall efficiencies. They also often need to integrate with existing health care networks' systems to track critical information across several locations in order to offer patients a consistent and positive experience.

Inpatient care organizations. These buyers are working for hospitals and large acute care centers. They need help managing patient facilities, such as rooms/beds, as well as assigning and tracking rounds covered by nurses and physicians. The nature of such capabilities means these systems often need integration capabilities with existing systems.

Benefits of Adopting Mobile EHR Software

There are different benefits that mobile EHR technologies will bring your practice based on your current operational pain points. However, the most common benefits of mobile EHR use include:

Greater efficiencies. By adopting EHRs, especially mobile-supported systems, practitioners can eliminate time-consuming paperwork, manage charts digitally and leverage the connected capabilities to easily obtain lab results and prescribe medications.

Ensure positive care experiences for patients. The greater efficiencies that these systems provide practices enable practitioners and support staff to spend more time with patients.

Improved collection capabilities. EHR systems provide physicians with the documentation they need to successfully file and support insurance claims, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. Integrated coding features help ensure providers are appropriately and accurately coding visits.

Market Trends to Understand in Mobile EHR Software

Internet of things (IoT). While this guide focuses on the benefits of mobile-enabled EHR systems, IoT devices are on their way to having a major impact on health care. Wearable devices are being worn by patients for a myriad of health-related reasons. These devices provide a ton of data to tap into that can offer better insight into patient health.

Security. Perhaps the most common concern we hear regarding mobile EHR adoption is system security. Patient privacy and HIPAA compliance are often top-of-mind for providers, so secure implementations and standard security measures are an important consideration when choosing software.

Patient portals. As the health care space moves more toward complete digitization, it's important to remember that this isn't reserved only for providers. Patients have now come to expect access to their medical information via online and/or mobile portals. It's definitely something that should be on your technology roadmap, so checkout our guide on patient portal software for a quick rundown of what to look for here.