Technology advances, and this has led to an important change in the healthcare world, especially with the appearance of the Electronic Health Record (EHR), a medical software that allows optimal and safe clinical management. Usability and medical software are two words that should go hand in hand, but unfortunately not all medical centers take this aspect into consideration when choosing to purchase software for their clinic RCM Service in Evanston.
Defining and designing the usability of an HCE system is
essential for proper clinical management. Usability has become a very used word
in recent years, a buzzword whose definition for many people has become
confusing, since unfortunately it has become a word used for practically
everything. But what exactly is usability? What is its usefulness?
Usability in clinic software
Usability has acquired great importance in the healthcare world, especially since the appearance of new technologies, and more specifically since the rebirth of medical software for clinics or health centers. The importance of usability in electronic medical records has been more than demonstrated.
It is essential to bear in mind that usability implies both ease of use and design to achieve efficient use. In other words, usability is considered an essential factor that will determine the success in the implementation of an Electronic Health Record system.
Although for many it is an aspect that can go unnoticed, it is essential to pay great attention to usability, since otherwise it is common to be able to detect failures or errors that imply a costly and lengthy correction task (inefficient use of the system, use excessive mouse clicks, excessive information per screen, etc.).
Effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction are the basic pillars that the usability must provide to any Electronic Health Record system to facilitate its use by the user.
It is essential that electronic medical records are easy to
use by users, as well as being completely safe and intuitive systems that allow
carrying out a multitude of tasks quickly and efficiently. Some of the tasks
that a system of this type should be able to do is organize, calculate,
collate, summarize, and retrieve data, among others.
Key elements for proper usability
When evaluating the usability of an Electronic Health Record system, it is important to focus mainly on 3 key elements:
Element 1. Intuitive
systems
Element 2. Speed
Element 3. Prevention of medical errors
The designers of a health software have an important task to achieve a medical software with a correct usability. Good usability will help reduce medical errors, achieving much more efficient systems.
Designers are in charge of thinking about how the information should be presented, as the change of information has an important impact. Proper design in EHR systems will allow more time to be offered and dedicated to patient care.
It is important to think about whether the level of
efficiency achieved with clinical management through the current system really
provides optimal effectiveness and efficiency. A proper usability design in an
EHR system should prevent healthcare personnel from spending too much time
performing simple tasks, reduce the error rate, and avoid having problems with
a healthcare system that is too complex.
Challenges in the usability of HCE systems
Achieving excellence in the ease of use of Electronic Health Record systems is a challenge, and this is due to the information needs of administrative, financial and clinical groups. It should be noted that the needs of the software for clinics can vary considerably due to the numerous medical disciplines that exist, which frequently require the design of a different interface.
It can also be argued that the concern of medical professionals for the large workflow as well as the access of clinical users to comments and tests is very complex for the developers of these systems, which can lead to multiple limitations.
Despite the many challenges and obstacles that may be encountered along the way, it should be noted that they are a great help to facilitate live clinical practice, which allows both designers and developers to avoid defects and mishaps in the system. Good software for clinics should include the user from the beginning, from the early stages of developing these types of systems.
Although it may sound strange, it is possible that some of
the problems that may arise in the development of Electronic Health Record
systems occur between designers and developers, causing the usability of these
systems to be hindered or impaired, mainly due to limitations or conflicts
related to the knowledge, budget or experience of healthcare
professionals.
