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. 2020 May 29;8(5):e16980. doi: 10.2196/16980

Table 2.

Category definitions and counts for administrative apps (n=203).

Categories Category descriptions Count, n (%)
Administrative Facilitates the conduct of administrative functions of a hospital or clinic setting 203 (100.0)

Front office Helps support front office staff interaction with patients 77 (37.9)


Scheduling Helps schedule and manage patient appointments 32 (15.7)


Patient check-in Helps manage the patient check-in process 12 (5.9)


Patient communication Facilitates communication with patient for administrative purposes 12 (5.9)


Document management Helps capture and manage documents 10 (4.9)


Answering service Captures information related to after-hours patient calls 4 (2.0)


Phone triage Facilitates triage according to industry standard protocols 3 (1.5)

Financial Helps manage the financial needs of the clinic 53 (26.1)


Patient billing Captures and processes payment information from patients 20 (9.9)


Insurance Facilitates claims and authorization 13 (6.4)


Collections Manages patient collections 8 (3.9)


Medical coding Improves accuracy and efficiency of medical coding 7 (3.4)


Patient pay estimation Estimates cost of care 3 (1.5)

Office administration Supports the administrative needs of the clinic 49 (24.1)


Analytics and reporting Helps track, analyze, and report on clinical operations 17 (8.4)


Patient experience Measures the clinical experience of the patient 13 (6.4)


Inventory management Tracks inventory of medical products 7 (3.4)


ITa systems management Supports the IT system needs of a health care organization 7 (3.4)


Compliance Helps maintain, track, and/or report compliance 4 (2.0)

Office device integration Device used by office staff for administrative purposes 17 (8.4)


Scanner integration Integrates scanners with the EHRb 7 (3.4)


Printer integration Integrates printers with the EHR 3 (1.5)


Signature pad integration Integrates a signature pad with the EHR 3 (1.5)

aIT: information technology.

bEHR: electronic health record.