The Tip of the Usability Iceberg

Usability-user-experience

We’ve spent the last few posts discussing the process of getting in and out of a system remotely and securely, and how using simple usability principles can create a smoother process. As one can appreciate, this is merely the beginning of the physician HIT usability journey, as we have yet to explore the gulf that is the clinician/EMR interaction.

Many in the industry acknowledge that a good number of the EMRs in existence today began their lives as enterprise-level software for business-to-business applications. As this technology became more end-user dependent, usability once again arose as a key factor, and some of the weaknesses in systems that were not designed from the ground up with the clinician in mind started to become evident. Human factors engineering is the term given to the study of how humans, both physically and cognitively, engage with computer systems.

Once the user experience piece has been optimized, then it is possible to focus on the “fun stuff” – for instance real-time, evidence-based, clinical decision support. When the physician no longer feels beholden to the technology solution, a different relationship emerges; a relationship in which the clinician is provided relevant, helpful information at the point of care; a relationship in which the system anticipates the needs of the clinician, offering reminders that are contextually sound and situationally appropriate – a true safety net.

In the coming months, we will look at some of these technologies and the potential that they have to be transformative in the field of hospital medicine.

(Image courtesy of Orange Aura)

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