Usability Testing

Usability testing help designers and developers understand how well their system matches the mental model and workflow of there users.

We've been invited to participate as a member of the Health IT Policy Committee’s Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup

ONC Health IT Logo

Our Chief Experience Officer, Bennett Lauber, has been invited to participate as a member of the Health IT Policy Committee’s Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup.

The draft charge for the workgroup is:

The Health IT Implementation, Usability, and Safety Workgroup will provide input and make recommendations on policy issues and opportunities for improving how health IT is designed, certified, implemented and used to minimize safety risks and leverage data to support improvements in patient care and health outcomes.

AHA Urges CMS, ONC To Quickly Finalize Meaningful Use Changes

The American Hospital Association sent a letter Tuesday asking CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT to quickly finalize a proposed rule that extends the meaningful use timeline so that providers can take advantage of the added flexibility, EHR Intelligence reports (Murphy, EHR Intellig

5 Reasons We Love Usability Testing - a guest post by Justin Williams

User Experience and Usability Testing have become fashionable lingo in the health IT world, yet EHR software is rife with usability issues; convoluted workflows, poor content, and poor interaction design are common frustrations that plague providers daily. Changing healthcare reimbursement models, Meaningful Use, PQRS, ICD-10... don’t providers have enough concerns without having to worry about their EHR?

Industry Divided Over Proposal To Change Meaningful Use Timeline

The health care industry is divided over a proposed rule released earlier this week by CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT that would give providers an additional year to upgrade electronic health record systems to meet reporting requirements for Stage 2 of the Medicare meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare 

Seeking Medical Professionals for remote EHR Usability studies

Seeking Medical Professionals for remote EHR usability studies

The Usability People are actively seeking participants in a remote usability studies of several EHR systems.

Qualified participants that complete the study will receive compensation up to a $100 Amazon gift card.

Other studies will be available soon.

Please complete the questionnaire in the URL below to see if you qualify:

www.TheUsabilityPeople.com/participate

Drummond's public comment on 2015 Edition EHR Certification Criterion - § 170.315(g)(3) (Safety-Enhanced Design)

Usability testing for Meaningful Use - Safety-enhanced Design

2015 Edition EHR Certification Criterion
(3) Safety-enhanced design.

User-centered design processes must be applied to each capability an EHR technology includes that is specified in the following certification criteria: § 170.315(a)(1) through (4), (8) through (10), and (18) and (b)(2) and (3).

EHRA Raises Concerns About 2015 EHR Certification Criteria

In a letter to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, the Electronic Health Record Association raised concerns about a proposed rule containing voluntary certification criteria for electronic health record systems in 2015, EHR Intelligence re

Top Primary Care Electronic Health Records Honors Announced by 2014 Black Book Satisfaction Survey

Two thousand primary care surveyed EHR users narrowed down an elite group of systems vendors across eighteen probing key performance indicators from a field of over 400 qualified healthcare software firms. As thousands of primary care practices still scramble to select and implement records systems, current adopters identify the firms that delivered on implementation success, productivity, outcomes, connectivity, meaningful use achievement and crucial stimulus fund requirements.

ONC Now Requires Publicly Accessible Certification Test Results

ONC’s 2014 Edition EHR Certification Criteria define the requirements that EHR technology must meet in order to be used by eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals (EHs), and critical access hospitals (CAHs) participating in the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. In addition to these criteria, ONC made some policy changes to the HIT Certification Program.

EHR Usability Consultation and Certification

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has released certification and meaningful use requirements for electronic health records (EHRs). These require that EHR vendors include evidence of user-centered design and user test results in their certification submission. To be able to obtain the ONC certification (and meaningful use funding) EHR vendors must follow a formal User Centered Design (UCD) process and perform summative usability testing on specific areas of the product.

Top five reasons the new Meaningful Use timeline will be good for EHR vendors

Usability test in progress.  Usability Consultants at the Usability People EHR Safety Enhanced Design

1. EHR Vendors will have more time to focus on their users.

a. To be able to obtain the ONC certification (and meaningful use funding for their customers) EHR vendors must follow a formal User Centered Design (UCD) process.
b. We recommend that EHR vendors follow ISO-9241-11 and show evidence that their design process is focused upon efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

2. EHR vendors will have time to perform many iterations of user testing.

Our Client WCH Service Bureau’s iSmart EHR Receives ONC-ACB Certification by Drummond Group

NEW YORK, December 6, 2013 – WCH’ Service Bureau’s iSmart EHR has been tested and certified under the Drummond Group's Electronic Health Records Office of the National Coordinator Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB) program. This EHR software is compliant in accordance with the criteria adopted by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Today is World Usability Day!!! November 14th 2013

Today is World Usability Day!

The importance of user-centered design in healthcare is truly life or death. Whether it's new medical devices or technologies; drug research, approval or delivery; patient forms or medical record sharing; emergency disaster planning or increasing the functionality of hospitals and everyday healthcare delivery, everyone is affected in some way by the intersection of usability in healthcare. There are many commonalities, yet each region of the world faces its own set of unique challenges.

§170.315(g)(3) Safety Enhanced Design and the ONC 2015 Certification

CMS Changes Name of the EHR Incentive Programs (Meaningful Use) and Advancing Care Information to “Promoting Interoperability”

§170.315(g)(3) Safety-enhanced design

As providers of usability testing and user experience services we know that one of the major advantages of electronic health records (EHRs) are their potential to increase patient safety by preventing, detecting and aiding in the recovery from human errors. ONC has set certification standards for safety-enhanced design (SED), making patient safety a primary focus in the design of an EHR.

Meaningful Use Stage 2 is Here! Safety-Enhanced Design testing takes time!

ONC Meaningful Use Certification logo 2014 Edition

CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) have established standards and certification criteria that EHRs must use in order to successfully capture and calculate objectives for Stage 2 of Meaningful Use. These new standards and certification criteria now in effect.

FDA issues final guidance on mobile medical apps!

U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued final guidance for developers of mobile medical applications, or apps, which are software programs that run on mobile communication devices and perform the same functions as traditional medical devices. The guidance outlines the FDA’s tailored approach to mobile apps.

Usability and User-Centered Design: A reminder to members of the EHR Developers Association

The Electronic Health Record Association (EHR Association), a non-profit association of more than 40 EHR companies, created an electronic health record (EHR) Developer Code of Conduct, which aims to encourage transparency and collaboration among EHR developers, as well as developers, providers, and industry stakeholders. The latest version of the code of conduct is available as a pdf here: http://bit.ly/13A1oLc

On the first page, the very first item (after a general statement) is Patient Safety.
The code says:

Pages


The Usability People work with you on improving the Usability of Healthcare IT.


The Usability People
Together we may save a life! #SafeHealthIT