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Overview of Electronic Health Records Usability
By Staff Reporters
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [AHRQ] recently funded a series of research activities focused on assessing and improving the state of usability in electronic Health Record (eHR) systems. Here are two of the most recent reports.
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The Reports
1. eHR Usability [Interface Design Considerations]
Link: eHR Interface Design
2. eHR Usability [Vendor Practices and Perspectives]
Link: eHR Vendor Practices
Related Insights
A related essay on THCB, by Matt Quinn [Special Expert, Health IT, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality], provides additional insight on the reports:
Assessment
And, in June, AHRQ plans to award a follow-on project for the development, testing and dissemination of an easy-to-use, objective and evidence-based toolkit to evaluate critical aspects of eHR systems’ usability, accessibility and information design.
In addition, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is currently seeking applications for development of an eHR usability evaluation framework, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, AHRQ and other agencies are collaborating on a joint conference in July to promote collaboration in HIT usability.
Conclusion
And so, your thoughts and comments on these two AHRQ reports are appreciated. What is your experience with eHRs? Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, be sure to subscribe. It is fast, free and secure.
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Filed under: Alerts Sign-Up, Information Technology, Quality Initiatives, Research & Development | Tagged: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, AHRQ, EHRs, EMRs, HIT, Matt Quinn, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology |
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USB Drives for All Patients at New Medical Center
In the future, patients will carry all of their medical records on a USB drive or a smart phone. In Danbury, CT, the future is just days away. The Imed Center of Danbury, which will have its grand opening Oct. 2, will be a paperless office with no records room. When patients check-in at the office, they won’t be handed a clipboard full of papers. Instead, they will type all of their information into a computer program — if they haven’t already done it at home.
Each patient will be issued a USB drive they can carry with them at all times. The USB drive is marked with a red cross – the universal medical sign – so if a patient is ever unconscious, paramedics will know it contains the patient’s medical history. The USB drive can carry MRI scans, prescription charts and allergies, and other important information. This information can also be accessed by smart phone applications or through any web browser. Once the electronic records are digitally signed and locked, they become legal documents.
Source: Vinti Singh, Newstimes.com [9/27/10]
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Several years ago, I learned that if a person’s electronic health record is stolen for insurance benefits, the thief will understandably alter details of the victim’s medical history to match his or her own. Since digital alterations of records are imperceptible, should the victim arrive unconscious in an emergency room, the doctor might not discover the patient’s known severe allergic reactions until the autopsy.
I repeatedly tried to discuss the idea of patients carrying their own medical histories on memory cards, but I couldn’t persuade anyone on the Internet to respond to the idea in 2006. This was even as Germany rolled out their national insurance cards which include medical histories. That’s when it occurred to me that the value of warehousing patient data in the US had created a stakeholder turf war over what morally belongs to patients rather than those with healthcare IT business interests.
HIT fans who have already collected stimulus money are unlikely to voluntarily concede power to our patients even if consumer involvement means better safety and less waste. History will show that is the stakeholders’ intention to use a federal HIT mandate to take control of consumers’ choice in health care by controlling the doctors. Obama is blaming the insurance companies weeks before the mid-term elections. By March, he and Congress will both be blaming “greedy” doctors…. sorry, I got lost.
I also suggested that if the nation had a (secure) repository for virtually all Americans’ health histories, should a person’s record be stolen and altered, the mismatch between the card information and the medical history download from the repository would immediately cause an alert – even in a busy emergency room.
Darrell K. Pruitt DDS
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Personal medical history USB drives and double-key access – an old idea whose time has come
Today, Ann Miller RN, MHA, writing for the Medical Executive-Post cited an article by Vinti Singh on Newstimes.com which announced that “In the future, patients will carry all of their medical records on a USB drive or a smart phone.”
Ms. Miller continues: “In Danbury, CT, the future is just days away. The Imed Center of Danbury, which will have its grand opening Oct. 2, will be a paperless office with no records room. When patients check-in at the office, they won’t be handed a clipboard full of papers. Instead, they will type all of their information into a computer program — if they haven’t already done it at home.”
Several years ago, I learned that if a person’s electronic health record is stolen for insurance benefits, the thief will understandably alter details of the victim’s medical history to match his or her own. Since digital alterations of records are imperceptible, should the victim arrive unconscious in an emergency room, the doctor might not discover the patient’s known severe allergic reactions until the autopsy.
I repeatedly tried to discuss the idea of patients carrying their own medical histories on memory cards, but I couldn’t persuade anyone on the Internet to respond to the idea in 2006. This was even as Germany rolled out their national insurance cards which include medical histories. That’s when it occurred to me that the value of warehousing patient data in the US had created a stakeholder turf war over what morally belongs to patients rather than those with healthcare IT business interests.
HIT fans who have already collected stimulus money are unlikely to voluntarily concede power to our patients even if consumer involvement means better safety and less waste. History will show that is the stakeholders’ intention to use a federal HIT mandate to take control of consumers’ choice in health care by controlling the doctors. Obama is blaming the insurance companies weeks before the mid-term elections. By March, he and Congress will both be blaming “greedy” doctors … sorry, I got lost.
I also suggested that if the nation had a (secure) repository for virtually all Americans’ health histories, should a person’s record be stolen and altered, the mismatch between the card information and the medical history download from the repository would immediately cause an alert – even in a busy emergency room.
Darrell K. Pruitt DDS
LikeLike