IMO’s year in search

Every year Google compiles a Year in Search video – an emotional highlight reel of what moved, delighted, challenged, and surprised us over the course of the preceding 12 months. It is an eye-opening compilation of our shared interests, concerns, and queries.

Since IMO is often described as “Google for the EHR,” we decided to take a look (on a far smaller scale) at the top terms searched by IMO clients in healthcare settings from coast to coast. The list provides a window into some of the most common problems patients presented with, and on the flip side, the issues and conditions clinicians worked tirelessly to address.

In some cases, the parallels were striking.

In a year when the number of people seeking help for mental health issues soared, and one of the top online queries was “How to be happy alone,” it comes as no surprise that anxiety and depression hovered in IMO’s top 20. As fears over the pandemic drove online searches, COVID-19 held steady in our top search terms as well. And as vaccines became more readily available, the phrase encounter for immunization began to climb at IMO, perhaps bringing a little hope to patient encounters.

Below is a list of IMO’s top 20 search terms for 2021, a gentle reminder that no matter what side of the examination table you’re on, we all face the same issues – and when we’re at our most vulnerable, we are not alone.

IMO’s 20 most searched terms in 2021:

1. Hypertension
2. COVID-19
3. Cough
4. Encounter for immunization
5. Diabetes
6. Encounter for general adult medical examination without abnormal findings
7. Anxiety
8. GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)
9. BMI
10. Abdominal pain
11. Hyperlipidemia
12. Other chronic pain
13. Vitamin D deficiency
14. Anemia
15. Depression
16. Fatigue
17. Chest pain
18. UTI (urinary tract infection)
19. Headache
20. Nausea

For more on the relationship between clinical terminology and patient care, click here.