Summative usability testing is used to obtain measures to establish a usability benchmark or to compare results with usability requirements. The usability requirements should be task-based, and should tie directly to product requirements, including results from analytic tools such as personas, scenarios, and task analysis.
Summative testing is required to satisfy the "Safety-enhanced Design" portion of the ONC 2015 Edition Certification
On June 15th, ONC pushed a significant update to the 2015 Update Edition test procedure.
https://www.healthit.gov/test-method/safety-enhanced-design
The application of user-centered design (UCD) during development and summative testing is limited to only those nine 2015 Edition certification criteria specified in this certification criterion and only for which certification is sought, namely [80 FR 62670]:
The 2015 Edition Cures Update Test Method has been constructed in an outcome-focused format with additional companion guide documents to aid stakeholder development of Health IT Modules. The Test Method provides the structure for evaluating conformance of the Health IT Module to the certification criteria defined in 85 FR 25642 of the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program Final Rule as published in the Federal Register on May 1, 2020.
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.
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.
We were recently exploring the new updated Certified HealthIT Product List (CHPL) site (https://chpl.healthit.gov/#/search ) was were shocked that as of today (Jan 11, 2017) there are only 3 Health IT vendors that have products that have been Safety-enhanced Design certified for the ONC 2015 Edition.
We're glad that for most EHRs the usability test performed as part of their certification is posted on the website of the certifying body (eg, Drummond, Infoguard, etc)
On Oct. 6, 2015, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released the final rules for Stage 3 of the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program and the 2015 Edition Health IT Certification Criteria. Through this rulemaking, the agencies hoped to simplify requirements and add some new flexibilities for providers.
The 2015 Edition Final Test Method has been posted and can be accessed on the ONC Health IT Certification Program webpage.
The Final Test Method outlines the requirements for evaluating conformance of health IT Modules to the certification criteria defined in the ONC 2015 Edition Final Rule (45 CFR Part 170 Subpart II) published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2015.
Some electronic health record vendors are not following usability testing standards or meeting federal user-centered design rules, even though they have been certified as meeting meaningful use program requirements, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association,
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.
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 ONC certification EHR vendors must follow a formal User Centered Design (UCD) process and perform summative usability testing on specific areas of the product.
Usability improvements that could enhance patient safety are occurring in electronic health record systems, but not at an acceptable pace and not necessarily for the expected reasons or even the right ones, some industry gurus and researchers report.
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).
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."
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 Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has released the first draft test scenario for assessing the real-world usability of electronic health record systems under Stage 2 of the meaningful use program, Modern Healthcare reports.
A coalition of health care organizations sent a letter to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell recommending that the agency overhaul the meaningful use program with a focus on interoperability, Healthcare IT News reports.
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).
The Usability People work with you on improving the Usability of Healthcare IT.
Together we may save a life! #SafeHealthIT