On the Safety of Electronic Medical Records

Usability and Safety in Electronic Medical Records Interface Design

“…No clear feedback or delayed feedback on an action are usability issues that were also identified in several other studies (e.g., Pereira et al 2012;Weber-Jahnke & Mason-Blakley, 2012). Graham et al (2008) offered that when there is no feedback to identify incomplete order entries (under high workload conditions), users often fail to recognize the oversight.…”

“…Beyond the aforementioned usability problems with EMRs and EHRs, several previous studies have linked interface design issues with safety incidents (e.g., Ammenwerth & Shaw, 2004;Caudill-Slosberg & Weeks 2005;Weber-Jahnke & Mason-Blakley 2012). On this basis, we briefly summarize those studies that made use of safety analysis techniques to identify potential hazards in EMR use.…”

“…Weber-Jahnke & Mason-Blakley (2012) 3. Reduce the number of fields for data entry, and provide the capability to override false alarms.…”

“…Although many researchers have concentrated on the benefits of implementing EMRs, there remain concerns with the technology's potential for increasing likelihood of new types of errors and creating safety issues that could lead to patient harm (Ammenwerth & Shaw, 2004). Several case studies have been published on patient overdose as a result of flaws in EMR human-system interface design and errors in the use of CPOE systems (e.g., Caudill-Slosberg & Weeks 2005;Weber-Jahnke & Mason-Blakley 2012). In addition, some researchers have observed safety issues or hazards to be associated with certain EMR implementations (e.g., Caudill-Slosberg & Weeks 2005;Kumar and Aldrich 2010).…”

Big Data in Healthcare – Defining the Digital Persona through User Contexts from the Micro to the Macro

“…Moreover, many clinical information systems such as EMR and CPOE systems capture a large amount of meta data about their use, e.g., for auditing purposes. Analyzing such meta data may indeed allow us to detect human computer interaction problems (e.g., user confusion, individual training needs), shrinking safety margins (for example, due to deteriorating data quality) and other technology-related safety concerns before any adverse event occurs [46]. Following this trend, future clinical information systems may be equipped with components akin to black box flight recorders used to diagnose safety problems in avionics.…”