• Christian Johnson and Wesley Barker.
• Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, HHS, 330 C St SW, Floor 7, Washington, DC 20024. Email: Wesley.Barker@hhs.gov.
• Am J Manag Care. 2023 Jan 1; 29 (1): e8e12e8-e12.

ObjectivesTo (1) track the integration of telehealth- and COVID-19-related apps with electronic health records (EHRs) over time, (2) identify the primary functionality of apps designed to support the COVID-19 response, and (3) examine whether apps available prior to the pandemic added new telehealth- or COVID-19-related functionalities during the pandemic.Study DesignData were collected from public EHR app galleries on a monthly basis from December 31, 2019, through June 1, 2021.MethodsApps were identified as relating to COVID-19 or telehealth using text analysis of the app marketing materials. Descriptive analyses were conducted to characterize telehealth- and COVID-19-related apps discovered through the app galleries, identify their primary functionality, and examine whether any apps added new telehealth- or COVID-19-related functionalities during the pandemic.ResultsThe number of COVID-19-related apps increased from 0 in March 2020 to 19 a month later and continued to grow to 62 as of June 2021. The number of telehealth-related apps more than doubled from prepandemic levels (n = 41) to a total of 87 apps by June 2021. These apps were 2 times more likely to contain specialized capabilities used to support COVID-19 response efforts, such as secure messaging, vaccine administration, and laboratory testing, compared with all apps listed in the EHR app galleries.ConclusionsThese findings demonstrate the potential of integrating third-party apps into EHRs to expand the range of tools that health care providers can use to diagnose, treat, and communicate with patients.

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