Research published finds that the laboratory graphs displayed by many commercial EHRs present information in potentially dangerous ways.

The authors urged ONC to stringently oversee testing of the software - although FDA has said it won't regulate it.

The study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association examined the presentation of clinical lab test results in eight EHRs and found that most failed to graph the data in completely clear ways.

Hospital errors could be better avoided by improving the interoperability of medical devices, according to a survey of 526 registered nurses conducted by Harris Poll, FierceHealthIT reports (Dvorak, FierceHealthIT, 3/12).

The Electronic Health Record Association has created a workgroup on health care delivery system reform, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 3/5).

HIMSS NCA Lunch and Learn Webinar - "The Importance of User Experience in Health IT"

The first lHIMSS NCA unchtime webinar of the 2015 will take place on Wed, Feb 25, 2015 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EST and will focus how to understand what users want and how they want it, and design and build tools and apps that actually get used.

A coalition of 35 medical societies led by the American Medical Association sent a letter to National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo calling for major changes to the meaningful use electronic health record certification program, The Hill reports.

The usability of the system is the probably most important factor in making an informed choice of which EHR to use for your practice. Most every bit of software says that it is easy to use, but how can you choose an EHR that is actually usable?

The federal government continued to implement the HITECH Act, enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, during the third quarter of 2014. As implementation of HITECH's programs begin to wind down, more than $25 billion in incentive payments have been made to providers to spur electronic health record adoption, and more than 90% of eligible hospitals and 75% eligible professionals have adopted and are using EHRs as a result.

Dissatisfaction with inpatient electronic health record systems has reached an all-time high among nurses, according to a report by Black Book Market Research, Health Data Management reports (Slabodkin, Health Data Management, 10/20).  

See Dallas Hospital Issues 'Correction,' Says 'No Flaw' in EHR System

The American Medical Association released a framework outlining eight priorities for making electronic health records easier for providers to use, Modern Healthcare reports (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 9/16).

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.

Several simple steps -- such as implementing a decision-support tool and providing explanations of health insurance industry vocabulary -- could significantly improve the usability of HealthCare.gov, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the Los Angeles Times' "Science Now" reports.

Our Chief Experience Officer, Bennett Lauber will be presenting "EHR Usability, The future of medicine is easy to use" at the 3rd Annual OSEHR Conference on Sept 5th at 10:30 am.

OSEHRA, an emerging leader in advancing open source electronic health record software and related health information technology, is bringing together the best and brightest from healthcare and other open source initiatives to share their expertise in three key areas:

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

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?

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 

Laboratory professionals are essential to reducing patient safety risks by ensuring patients' electronic health record data are accurate and effective, according to a CDC report, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Techonology, 5/19).

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

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).