HIMSS says poor usability cuts EMR adoption

You'd think the following point was obvious, but sadly, it isn't on the radar of many healthcare leaders. A new paper from HIMSS has named usability shortcomings as one of the key factors--if not the top reason--holding back EMR adoption. If EMRs aren't usable, clinical productivity and user satisfaction drop, while clinical error rates and user fatigue tend to climb, HIMSS researchers said.

In the paper, "Defining and Testing EMR Usability: Principles and Proposed Methods of EMR Usability Evaluation and Rating," HIMSS researchers argued that usability should become part of the certification process for EMRs. If certified EMRs were guaranteed to be user-friendly, decision-makers would feel more confident in selecting such systems, according to HIMSS EHR Usability Task Force chair Jeffery Belden, MD.

The HIMSS paper also offers a definition of usability for EMRs, noting that usable systems are "intuitive, forgiving of mistakes and allow one to perform necessary tasks quickly." And it recaps well-known principles of software and interface design that should be applied to EMRs, including simplicity, naturalness of use, consistency and protection against cognitive overload.

To learn more about this analysis:
- read this HIMSS paper (.pdf)

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