Google Launches New Browser - What does this mean for Physicians Using EMRs?

There has been a lot of hype in the media about the launch of Google's new browser called Chrome. I downloaded Chrome and used it earlier today to get a feel for this new kid on the block. I found the browser performance to be fast and I was able to quickly customize the bookmark bar so that I could have my most frequently used links at my fingertips, however I was not totally enamoured with the browser. The folks at Google are smart, but I do not understand why there is no home button that is user configurable. I constantly found myself looking for this.

These are the technical challenges, but I would like to focus my attention on the implications of the browser in terms of physician users of EMRs.

Does the operating system really matter anymore? The new Google browser signifies a serious attack on Microsoft's dominance of the desktop through Windows. More people use Internet Explorer (IE) than any other with about 75% of total internet traffic being viewed through IE. Firefox has the majority of the remaining 25% with Mozilla and Safari sharing the remainder. Now there will be 5.

As a physician using an EMR, I do not particularly care which browser is being used. Other than personal preference, it is all the same to me. However, if the newer generation of EMRs become ASP based (in other words, accessible off a remote server) and I have to use a browser to access my patient information in the EMR, it had better work 100% of the time.

I am more concerned about the EMR vendors, who will now have to optimize their software applications to work with another browser. Despite there being well defined standards regarding the way information is supposed to be presented in a browser, the process is not as seamless as one would like. Some browsers will not accept certain plug-ins. Others do not handle java exactly the same way etc. etc.

It can become a full time job tweaking web pages to ensure that they are the same irrespective of the browser being used.

On one side, I like the fact that it does not matter anymore if you are using a Windows PC or a Mac if your EMR is written using java or is browser-based. However, it would be nice to know that my EMR is optimized for physician experience and not for a specific browser.

Article on CNET: Aiming to react quickly to Google's Chrome announcement, Microsoft focused on how Chrome stacks up against Internet Explorer. "The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," Internet Explorer General Manager Dean Hachamovitch said in a statement. Link: What Chrome means for Microsoft | Beyond Binary - A blog by Ina Fried - CNET News

What do you think? Does it matter to you which browser you use? As a vendor, does this have an impact on your product and if so, what is that impact? (Vendors are encouraged to share their thoughts).

Click on the Comments link below to add your thoughts or feedback.

Comments

[Allan Horii]

I think the marketplace/demand will drive the EMR vendors' support for multiple browsers. Although IE has been the default, I know some (vocal) Mac colleagues who would strongly advocate compatibility with Safari. For that matter, support for IE itself can be an issue: for example, the upgrade from IE 6 to 7.

[Scot Mountain]

Hi Alan,

Regarding the home button in Chrome, if you go to the tools menu, and look under basics tab, there is a checkbox to 'show the home button on the toolbar'. You can also select the radio button to display a specific web page for your home page, instead of using the new tab page.

I have found Chrome to be faster for almost everything when I am surfing, except for some reason it is slower than IE when loading my initial home page (for which I use iGoogle - seems strange).

I think the real advantage of this software is Google's commitment to open source architecture, and ongoing development. This has already paid dividends, as a German developer has produced "mobile Chrome" that can be served off of a USB key for those that want to run it on a computer without installing it (for eg. on a hospital computer). Because of the open source approach, this was available within a day or two of the release of Chrome.

[Alan Brookstone]

Thanks Scot, I did find the home button after spending some time on Chrome. I agree, it is very fast. I think that the start version of Chrome is a bit counterintuitive, but once configured it works well.