The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released a new guide to improve the usability and safety of electronic health records, Clinical Innovation & Technology reports (Walsh, Clinical Innovation & Technology, 10/12).

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) report titled “Incorporating Health Information Technology into Workflow Redesign”
recommended conducting human-factors workflow analyses in health care settings prior to technology implementation. In addition, the National Institute
of Standards and Technology (NIST) presented targeted recommendations from human-factors workflow methods that could be used in ambulatory

Click here for Update: The Final Rule for the 2015 edition certification has been released.

From the executive summary, “These recommendations provide a first step in moving from a billing-centered perspective (i.e., focusing
on ensuring maximum and timely reimbursement) to a clinician-centered perspective where the EHR design supports clinical cognitive work,
such as moving from an initial working diagnosis to a formal diagnosis for a complex patient. These recommendations point the way towards a “patient visit
management system,” which incorporates broader notions of supporting workload management, and supporting the flexible flow of patients and tasks.”

A new National Institute of Standards and Technology report offers recommendations on how electronic health record developers and ambulatory care centers can better integrate EHR systems into clinical workflow, FierceHealthIT reports.

Here are the Top 10 Healthcare Usability Myths Debunked

Myth # 1 Clinicians are uncomfortable with technology and just need more training.

Fact: Current HIT systems often don’t fit the way end users think and work.

Myth # 2 Put it all on 1 screen to make it easier to use.

Fact: Developers need to understand workflows and tasks to know what information is needed.

Myth # 3 Whoever has the Most features wins.

Fact: Vet your current feature set. Less may be more.

NIST has launched a Wiki to support collaboration among all stakeholders in developing tools for measuring and evaluating the usability of Health IT systems.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a framework to think about the use of EHRs in relation to adverse events and patient safety. Lana Lowry, NIST project lead on usability and human factors for health IT, believes that in addition to a set of technical requirements for functionality, systems need to have the same set of user requirements for how a user performs with the system.

This document provides NIST guidance for those developing electronic health record (EHR) applications who need to know more about processes of user centered design (UCD).

http://www.nist.gov/itl/hit/upload/Guide_Final_Publication_Version.pdf