How To Overcome The EHR Usability Challenges?

The adoption range of EHR systems is constantly evolving for managing and accessing patient records with a high level of accuracy. Even-though technology advanced day by day, the usability problem tends to arise as a great challenge for healthcare practices. The healthcare providers often face this EHR usability issues at the time of EHR optimization.

When new features are added or interfaces are redesigned, there will be some changes on the technological side. These changes may lead to improved functionality, but the physicians also need to adapt to the changes beyond the initial implementation. Here is a list of common EHR usability challenges and the smart ways to overcome them.

Benefits Of EHR           

• EHR offers a better quality of care
• EHR makes patient-physician communication better
• EHR helps to maintain more accurate patient information
• EHR offers better interoperability
• EHR offers advanced billing and reporting tools that reduce clinician burnout
• EHR helps to reduce claim rejections

EHR Usability Challenges

1. Data Entry

Nowadays, EHR data entry remains a great challenge for healthcare providers. The process is hard to correctly enter the desired EHR data into the software. From a report, it is shown that a clinician chose the wrong frequency for a drug to be administrated. Due to the changes in the entry order, the clinician didn’t realize which options were populated into the EHR had changed. So this leads to errors in data entry and also affects the accuracy of patient health data.

2. EHR Alerting

During the process of EHR implementation, the health practices have an option of integrating various EHR alerts into clinical decision support functionality.  While EHR alerts can offer providers useful updates and reminders, EHR notification overload has been a serious issue in the past for clinicians already struggling with high cognitive workloads. Low-value EHR alerts can affect the patient safety improvements contribute to physician burnout.

However, effective EHR alerts such as discharge alerts, admission, alerts before medication, and screening reminders can help to streamline care coordination by easily sharing critical patient information to healthcare providers through the EHR interface.

3. Interoperability

EHR interoperability is defined as the ability to effectively communicate health information electronically. A multi-specialty hospital must require diverse EHR products. These products must have the ability to share health information easily, which can be achieved by introducing interoperability in the care system.

EHR interoperability enables better workflows when health data is shared amongst different providers. How it can be done?. By integrating EHR systems altogether, and enabling automatic access to the clinical information from within and outside the health system.

However, there are various challenges in integrating an EHR solution with other systems such as patient portals, telemedicine solutions, and even EHR solutions of other facilities. The challenges include standardization of information, high cost of integration, and more.

RELATED: How EHRs Improve Patient Safety?: 6 Smart Ways

4. Information Availability

Clinically significant data is blocked or not found because it is stored in the wrong folder or inaccessible location in the EHR. For instance, a clinic lab staff member couldn’t get to a segment of a patient’s health record where the clinician requested diagnostic tests; thus, the tests weren’t performed.

5. EHR System automation

The EHR automates or defaults to data that is unforeseen or not straightforward to the clinician. For instance, a clinician requesting an anticoagulant attempted to begin the dosing at a set time, however, the date automatically defaulted to the next day.

RELATED: AI Is Taking EHR Documentation To The Next Level

How To Overcome EHR Usability Challenges?

The healthcare providers and EHR developers should make use of safety based test case scenarios and detect the problems with EHR usability. This will help to avoid patient safety issues similar to the above-mentioned challenges.

Both the providers and developers should tackle these EHR usability issues. Each issue has a basic scenario that evaluates at least one aspect of the clinical workflow. The more advanced scenario also tests the detailed aspects of the clinician’s workflow such as communication with other clinicians. Physicians and other healthcare experts can also create test cases on their own according to their individual needs.

Final Thoughts

An EHR with a high level of usability is easy to use and encourages users to perform important tasks quickly on time. Whether a clinician or health IT researcher, EHR usability comes up with these challenges based on the evolution of technology and EHR optimization.

Don’t let these EHR usability issues impact your practice workflow. Contact Vozo Today.