§170.315(g)(3) Safety-enhanced design

EHR Safety-enhanced design (§170.315.g.3) (aka Usability) Testing for ONC 2015 Certification

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has made several enhancements to the Safety-enhanced (aka usability) testing portion of the certification criteria.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) established a Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) that, in part, is based upon compliance with certain rules. MACRA requires a 2015 Edition Certification for full payment starting January 2019.

Meaningful use, which CMS changed to "advancing care information" and rolled out under the Medicare Merit-based Incentive Payment System, will now be called "promoting interoperability."

For expert 2015 ONC Safety-enhanced Design (aka Usability) testing of your EHR: contact The Usability People

The Usability People

Together we may save a life! #SafeHealthIT

Safety-enhanced Design evaluations for ONC 2015 Edition Certification

In a public comment on the certification process, Drummond (one of the ONC ATCB's) stated that

"...the usability test effort is not a small undertaking for EHR vendors. In fact, it {is} essentially one of the most difficult criteria to complete."



For expert Usability evaluations of your companies EHR: Contact The Usability People



Usability reports produced by The Usability People adhere to the NISTIR 7742 CCIF format suitable for submission to an ONC-ACB. We can also provide a set of prioritized, detailed, and actionable feedback that you can take directly to your design and development teams for implementation.

MIPS/MACRA Final Rule: A carrot is better than a stick!

With the January 2018 deadline fast approaching and very few EHRs certified for the ONC 2015 Edition Certification, Doctors will get a one year extension so that they can continue to use 2014 edition of EHRs into next year. Instead of getting a 25 percent reduction in their reimbursement payment, those that are using a 2015 edition certified EHR will gain a 10 percent bonus in the meaningful use part of their MIPS payments. Full details are posted in the Federal Register. This post will be updated when we get a chance to read the 1000+ page document.

EHR Usability Testing Provider

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

has released a set of 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 2014 or the 2015 Edition ONC certification EHR vendors must follow a formal User Centered Design (UCD) process and perform summative usability testing on specific areas of the product.

ONC: Health IT Adoption, Use Has Improved Patient Safety

The increased adoption of electronic health records and other health IT has improved patient safety, according to an issue brief by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, Health IT Analytics reports (Bresnick, Health IT Analytics, 4/28).

JAMA study: HITECH Helped Promote EHR Use, but Usability Issues Remain

While the recent push to adopt health IT systems has helped to improve care and reduce costs, issues with usability and interoperability require further federal attention, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, FierceHealthIT rep

Joint Commission Issues Alert About Potential Health IT Risks

High risk magnifying glass

The Joint Commission issued a sentinel event alert warning that while electronic health records and other health IT have the potential to improve care quality and safety, such technologies can pose inherent risks to patients, Modern Healthcare reports.

SOFTWARE ACT COULD CREATE SAFETY PROBLEMS

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.

Nurses say: Device Interoperability Key to Reducing Medical Errors

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).

Senators Question HITECH Act's Effect on Care Quality, Costs

In a Health Affairs blog post, a group of Republican senators write, "There is inconclusive evidence that the [HITECH ACT] has achieved its goals of increasing efficiency, reducing costs and improving the quality of care."

Free Webinar (02/25/15): The Importance of User Experience in Health IT

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.

Doctors Raise Concerns About EHR Certification, Call for Changes

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.

How to choose a usable EHR

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?

Recap of Q3 2014 Federal Health IT Activity

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.

AMA Unveils Framework Outlining Priorities To Improve EHR Usability

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).

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.

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


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