Dive Brief:
- A review by researchers at the MedStar Health's National Center for Human Factors in Washington D.C. analyzed 50 of the largest EHR vendors. More than one-third failed to meet the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT's (ONC) certification requirement of delineating their user-centered design (UCD) process.
- The certification requires EHR vendor products to have followed UCD processes which puts the cognitive workflow and information needs of the clinical user at the forefront of design and development to reduce the potential for errors and patient harm.
- More than 63% of analyzed vendors neglected to enroll at least 15 users in EHR usability tests - the recommended number. In addition, 17% had no participating physicians involved in the usability tests for platforms intended for doctors.
Dive Insight:
The eight UCD criteria include CPOE; drug-drug checks; drug-allergy interaction checks; medication list; medication allergy list; electronic medication administration record; e-prescribing and clinical information reconcilliation.
The study authors concluded that: "The lack of adherence to usability testing may be a major factor contributing to the poor usability experience by clinicians. Enforcement of existing standards, specific usability guidelines and greater scrutiny of vendor UCD processes may be necessary to achieve the functional and safety goals for the next generation of EHRs."