Software design has come a long way with corporate level applications now contribute significantly towards the growth of organizations. Be it supply chain management, enterprise resource management or back office accounts, applications today are more intelligent and friendlier to use. Interfaces are more engaging and everything is configured to add to work efficiency. Years of customer feedback have begun yielding results, shaping a new generation of applications for office use. While Electronic Medical Records have gone through this transition as well, they are still comparatively new in terms of popularity and use. Clinical workflow is highly specialized and thoroughly regulated, which has affected design and led to the creation of cumbersome systems with bland interfaces.
Most EMR users often complain about the tedious documentation processes and providers often quote feeling like a data entry clerk. EMRs tend to highlight certain aspects of clinical documentation, with built-in system intelligence and policing rules ensuring that documentation is complete as per regulations. Users are cautioned through system prompts and alerts where necessary, making it easier to recheck critical items. However, these features also tend to make application design denser and more complex. Most EMR users will advocate simplistic designs built for general commercial use. However, EMR is still considered a specialist product and it would be some time before we could see them being flooded into the market such as other enterprise solutions.
Colorful applications and bulky template designs are not a solution to the problem either, explains Ray Parker, an EHR implementation expert, “When we talk about commercialism, we are not promoting loud color schemes and funky interfaces. An EHR interface must exude professionalism, but it should also be engaging and simple enough for daily use”, Ray adds that heavier templates tend to slow down the process and can be frustrating for the user in some cases, “If your animated diagnosis screen takes 2 minutes to load, it is definitely not helping.”
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But despite the arguments for standardized documentation and rule driven approach, EMRs will need to evolve from their current state, “Cumbersome design is the biggest threat to adoption”, says Bilal Hashmat, CIO at CureMD, a leading EMR vendor.
