EMR / EHR Integration

Crew can integrate with Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems to access patient data, schedule appointments, and update records. This guide covers integration patterns and data handling considerations.

Healthcare integrations require careful attention to data handling and privacy. Crew is designed with healthcare workflows in mind, but the overall compliance posture depends on your specific deployment and configuration. See Healthcare Readiness for details.

Integration Approaches

FHIR API Integration

FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) is the modern standard for healthcare data exchange.

{
  "emr_integration": {
    "type": "fhir",
    "base_url": "https://your-ehr.com/fhir/r4",
    "auth": {
      "type": "oauth2",
      "token_url": "https://your-ehr.com/oauth/token",
      "client_id": "crew_client",
      "client_secret": "..."
    }
  }
}

Supported FHIR Resources

Resource	Use Case
`Patient`	Look up patient demographics
`Appointment`	Schedule and manage appointments
`Schedule`	Check provider availability
`Slot`	Find available time slots
`Practitioner`	Provider information
`Location`	Office/facility details

Custom API Integration

For EMRs without FHIR support, use custom API integrations:

{
  "emr_integration": {
    "type": "custom",
    "endpoints": {
      "patient_lookup": "https://your-emr.com/api/patients/search",
      "schedule_appointment": "https://your-emr.com/api/appointments",
      "check_availability": "https://your-emr.com/api/slots"
    },
    "auth": {
      "type": "api_key",
      "header": "X-API-Key",
      "key": "..."
    }
  }
}

Webhook-Based Integration

Receive notifications from your EMR:

{
  "emr_webhooks": {
    "appointment_created": "https://api.usecrew.ai/v1/emr/webhook/{crew_id}",
    "appointment_updated": "https://api.usecrew.ai/v1/emr/webhook/{crew_id}",
    "patient_updated": "https://api.usecrew.ai/v1/emr/webhook/{crew_id}"
  }
}

Common Workflows

Patient Verification

Verify caller identity before accessing information:

// During call, Crew collects patient identifiers
const patientData = {
  date_of_birth: "1985-03-15",
  last_name: "Smith",
  phone: "+14155551234"
};

// Crew queries EMR to verify
const patient = await emr.searchPatient(patientData);

if (patient && patient.verified) {
  // Proceed with authenticated context
}

Appointment Scheduling

Identify Patient

Verify caller identity through date of birth and name

Determine Appointment Type

Agent asks about the reason for the visit

Check Availability

Query EMR for available slots matching criteria

Present Options

Offer available times to the caller

Book Appointment

Create appointment in EMR

Confirm

Read back confirmation details

Appointment Lookup

// Caller asks about existing appointment
const appointments = await emr.getAppointments({
  patient_id: patient.id,
  status: "booked",
  date_from: today
});

// Agent: "I see you have an appointment with Dr. Johnson 
// on January 20th at 2pm. Would you like to keep, 
// reschedule, or cancel that?"

Prescription Refills

// Validate patient has active prescription
const prescription = await emr.getPrescription({
  patient_id: patient.id,
  medication: requested_medication,
  status: "active"
});

if (prescription && prescription.refills_remaining > 0) {
  // Create refill request in EMR
  await emr.createRefillRequest({
    prescription_id: prescription.id,
    requested_via: "phone",
    call_id: call.id
  });
}

Supported EMR Systems

Crew has pre-built connectors for:

EMR	Integration Type	Features
Epic	FHIR R4	Full scheduling, patient lookup
Cerner	FHIR R4	Scheduling, patient lookup
athenahealth	REST API	Scheduling, patient lookup
DrChrono	REST API	Scheduling, patient lookup
eClinicalWorks	Custom	Scheduling (limited)

Contact sales@usecrew.ai for EMR integrations not listed above.

Data Handling

Minimum Necessary Principle

Crew only accesses the data required for the specific task:

Task	Data Accessed
Appointment scheduling	Name, DOB, contact info, appointment preferences
Appointment lookup	Name, DOB, upcoming appointments
Prescription refill	Name, DOB, active prescriptions

Data in Transit

All data between Crew and EMR systems is encrypted:

TLS 1.2+ for all connections
Certificate validation enforced
No data cached in transit

Data at Rest

Crew can be configured to minimize data storage:

{
  "data_handling": {
    "store_patient_data": false,
    "store_transcripts": true,
    "redact_phi_from_transcripts": true,
    "retention_days": 30
  }
}

Authentication Patterns

OAuth 2.0

For FHIR and modern APIs:

{
  "auth": {
    "type": "oauth2",
    "grant_type": "client_credentials",
    "token_url": "https://emr.com/oauth/token",
    "client_id": "...",
    "client_secret": "...",
    "scope": "patient/*.read appointment/*.write"
  }
}

SMART on FHIR

For clinical contexts requiring user authorization:

{
  "auth": {
    "type": "smart_on_fhir",
    "iss": "https://emr.com/fhir",
    "scopes": ["launch", "patient/Appointment.write"]
  }
}

API Keys

For simpler integrations:

{
  "auth": {
    "type": "api_key",
    "header": "Authorization",
    "prefix": "Bearer",
    "key": "your_api_key"
  }
}

Error Handling

Handle EMR connectivity issues gracefully:

try {
  const slots = await emr.getAvailableSlots(criteria);
  // Present options to caller
} catch (error) {
  if (error.type === "emr_unavailable") {
    // Agent: "I'm having trouble accessing our scheduling system. 
    // Can I take your information and have someone call you back?"
    await collectCallbackInfo();
  }
}

Responsibility Boundaries

Integration with EMR systems involves shared responsibilities between Crew and your organization.

Crew Responsibilities

Secure transmission of data
Proper authentication to your EMR
Logging of all EMR interactions
Error handling and graceful degradation

Customer Responsibilities

EMR access credentials management
Data access policies and permissions
Audit log review
User training on data handling
Regulatory compliance oversight

Best Practices

Use minimal permissions

Grant Crew only the EMR permissions needed for specific workflows.

Audit regularly

Review Crew’s EMR access logs for unexpected patterns.

Test in sandbox first

Use EMR sandbox/test environments before production.

Plan for failures

Design call flows that gracefully handle EMR unavailability.

Train staff

Ensure staff understand how Crew accesses and uses EMR data.

Next Steps

Healthcare Readiness — Security and compliance considerations
Data Handling — How Crew handles sensitive data
Webhooks — Sync data between systems

Welcome

Core Concepts

Voice & Communication

Integrations

Security & Compliance

Enterprise

EMR / EHR Integration

EMR / EHR Integration

Integration Approaches

FHIR API Integration

Supported FHIR Resources

Custom API Integration

Webhook-Based Integration

Common Workflows

Patient Verification

Appointment Scheduling

Appointment Lookup

Prescription Refills

Supported EMR Systems

Data Handling

Minimum Necessary Principle

Data in Transit

Data at Rest

Authentication Patterns

OAuth 2.0

SMART on FHIR

API Keys

Error Handling

Responsibility Boundaries

Crew Responsibilities

Customer Responsibilities

Best Practices

Next Steps

​EMR / EHR Integration

​Integration Approaches

​FHIR API Integration

​Supported FHIR Resources

​Custom API Integration

​Webhook-Based Integration

​Common Workflows

​Patient Verification

​Appointment Scheduling

​Appointment Lookup

​Prescription Refills

​Supported EMR Systems

​Data Handling

​Minimum Necessary Principle

​Data in Transit

​Data at Rest

​Authentication Patterns

​OAuth 2.0

​SMART on FHIR

​API Keys

​Error Handling

​Responsibility Boundaries

​Crew Responsibilities

​Customer Responsibilities

​Best Practices

​Next Steps

EMR / EHR Integration

Integration Approaches

FHIR API Integration

Supported FHIR Resources

Custom API Integration

Webhook-Based Integration

Common Workflows

Patient Verification

Appointment Scheduling

Appointment Lookup

Prescription Refills

Supported EMR Systems

Data Handling

Minimum Necessary Principle

Data in Transit

Data at Rest

Authentication Patterns

OAuth 2.0

SMART on FHIR

API Keys

Error Handling

Responsibility Boundaries

Crew Responsibilities

Customer Responsibilities

Best Practices

Next Steps