Integrating EHR technology into clinicians’ offices has been complex and arduous. Although EHR adoption has reached 86 percent among office-based physicians in the U.S., poor EHR usability is still a significant problem. For this reason, many CIOs need to work with an EHR interface consultant to design interfaces that will improve EHR usability, boost physician productivity, and improve care outcomes.
Here are five benefits that healthcare providers can derive from partnering with an EHR interface specialist.
1. Improved EHR Usability
EHR UI developers know how to create smooth, flowing interfaces like those you have on mobile devices and browsers. Unfortunately, many major EHR vendors have created unwieldy data entry interfaces for physicians to grapple with.
Such clunky interfaces easily cause physician fatigue and various patient safety issues. Clinicians need to move from section to section to get information that should be readily available.
Working with an interface specialist reduces the data entry, search, and usage burden.
2. Reduced Clinician Burnout
Today, clinicians have to fill in so much data on each patient during each significant appointment. The data entry burden on physicians, due to government regulations, makes effective EHR use a severe challenge.
However, with a careful study of the data entry workflow of each physician, your interface developer can create new custom interfaces. These interfaces will fulfill the statutory data entry requirements without making the process cumbersome for each doctor.
This makes it easy for clinicians to find what they need without dozens of clicks and excessive mental effort.
3. Specialty-specific Interface Design
One of the most significant benefits of working with an interface specialist is access to specialty-specific interfaces. That means having EHR/EMR interfaces that show the most critical information for each care setting.
Instead of using the same general interface for all clinicians, providing specialty-specific user interfaces can boost efficiency significantly. Experienced interface designers will create clean, uncluttered interfaces that improve workflow, minimize clicks, reduce stress, and simplify data entry.
Since no two specialists or clinics work the same way, an orthopedic surgeon and a pediatric dentist will use a different interface.
4. Optimized Data Visualization
Another effective EHR user interface design technique is to provide clinicians with optimized data visualization. Besides solving the problem caused by an overcrowded interface, EHR developers can also limit the number of clicks to find information.
The interface will highlight the data that is most relevant to each user. As a result, clinicians will reduce the time to query EHR systems to the barest minimum.
5. More Time for Patient Care
Specialized interfaces improve physician productivity, giving them more time to attend to patients. A well-designed interface reduces the time to find information on a disease or patient. For instance, if the time it takes to complete an information search on a diabetic patient reduces from 20 minutes to 5 minutes, the clinician will have more time to encourage the patient to adopt lifestyle changes for adequate blood sugar control.
Making effective clinical decisions with data is a complex task. But with specialized interface design, the process can become faster and less strenuous.
Contact an EHR Interface Consultant Today
Call Lifepoint Informatics at 877.522.8378 to discuss your EHR/EHR interface challenges. Visit our contact page today to book a free consultation and see a demo of our custom EHR interface solutions.