Healthcare Usability

This lawsuit alleges Allscripts “misled its physician customers about the quality and functionality of MyWay” electronic health record (EHR) software which was sold to approximately 5,000 physicians across the nation from 2009 until Allscripts withdrew it from the market at the end of 2012. The cost of the software, according to the law firm’s website was “approximately $40,000 per physician to implement.”

The attorneys created this website to provide information about the suit: http://allscriptsmywayclassaction.com/

NIST has launched a Wiki to support collaboration among all stakeholders in developing tools for measuring and evaluating the usability of Health IT systems.

What a great headline! In an article published by Venture Beat, they describe how nurses are truly the head cornerstone to EHR adoption.

Cloud storage service Box is diving deeper into the healthcare space. Recently the company shared that it has added 10 new healthcare application partners to its platform to help respond to industry-specific challenges. In addition, to further gain acceptance by companies in this space, Box is sharing that it is now both HIPAA and HITECH compliant and is signing Business Associate Agreements with its customers.

CMS recently published a final rule that specifies the Stage 2 criteria that eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) must meet in order to continue to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. This is going to create a large amount of new jobs. EHR vendors will be looking for Healthcare IT professionals with an understanding and experience with the meaningful use requirements.

We have had a number of requests for listings of more Healthcare IT jobs.

Please see our complete Job Board for a full listing of HCUX and Healthcare IT positions available across the USA.

Although we specialize in usability and user experience we are also customer driven, and are happy to provide the following list of the top 20 HCIT positions near you:

(Select "read more" to see the HCIT jobs in your area)

We provide usability testing services for the ONC 2015 Edition Certification for Safety-enhanced Design

Some time last month, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) quietly filled its long-vacant Director of Healthcare Initiatives position, responding to a call made last September by its mHealth task force. The FCC’s appointee, Matthew Quinn, is no stranger to healthcare innovation. With a background in two previous government agencies and a number of large and small healthcare companies, Quinn brings a range of experience to the role. It’s recently been announced that one of his first duties will be to advise an HHS workgroup on mobile health regulation.

More than 50,000 healthcare IT jobs have sprouted since passing the HITECH Act, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates they’ll grow by 20 percent from 2008 to 2018 – much faster than all remaining US occupations per industry. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report reflecting the doubling of EHR adoption among physicians in two years from 17 to 34 percent. The rate of adoption among primary care doctors also increased significantly, from 20 to 39 percent.

Usability is often blamed by physicians' as the root cause of their dissatisfaction with their electronic health record systems (EHRs)

Some of the usability issues are addressed in Stage 2 of the ONC Meaningful Use incentive program.

During that stage, usability has been made part of the certification process. Vendors must go through formal usability evaluations in order to have their products approved as complying with meaningful use.

They should be also looking for usability help, not outside engineering-centric developers!

EHR vendors: Contact Us!

Electronic health record (EHR) companies are beginning to partner with outside software developers to help them ramp up new applications for care management, population health management and patient engagement. Athenahealth, Allscripts, and eClinicalWorks (eCW) all are placing big bets on this approach, although eCW is tilting more toward mobile health apps than the other two vendors are.

There has been a lot of chatter in the "twittersphere" about healthcare IT and Meaningful Use. We have noticed that there has also been a sharp increase in the number of Healthcare IT vendors that are seeking professionals with experience and knowledge of the current (and future) requirements for Meaningful Use funding.

The health information technology (HIT) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) afford states and their Medicaid providers with a unique opportunity to leverage existing efforts to achieve the vision of interoperable information technology for health care.

Select Read More to see the top 20 Meaningful Use careers in your area

Improved efficiency was one promise that proponents of electronic health record systems often touted to physicians to persuade them to adopt the systems. But many doctors have found the only way they can accomplish certain tasks in a reasonable amount of time is to do them on paper.

Medical News reported the results of a report from the American College of Physicians indicating “satisfaction and usability ratings for certified electronic health records (EHRs) have decreased since 2010 among clinicians across a range of indicators.” The announcement was made at the 2013 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Conference & Exhibition. According to Michael S.

The usability of health and other information technology systems has long been a challenge.

And there are a number of common misconceptions as to why the problem persists, according to Nancy Staggers, RN, a professor of Informatics at the University of Maryland’s School of Nursing, and Lorraine Chapman, Director of Use Experience Research at Macadamian Technologies, a user experience design and software development firm that does work in the health care field.

Satisfaction and usability ratings for certified electronic health record systems have decreased since 2010, according to a report from the American College of Physicians and AmericanEHR Partners, Medical News Today reports. The report was released this week at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society's annual conference.
The report is based on 4,279 responses to multiple surveys of clinicians conducted between March 2010 and December 2012 (Medical News Today, 3/7).

Report Findings

The HIPAA Risk Analysis is so important that it is the first item defined in the HIPAA Security Rule, a requirement since 2005. It forms the basis of your HIPAA compliance program, and should be updated annually or more often if something significant changes within your IT environment. The HIPAA Risk Analysis is the roadmap you must follow to secure electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) to ensure that you do not breach its confidentiality, integrity, or availability.

Applications are now open for ZeroTo510, an entrepreneurship accelerator program designed to help start-ups bring medical device products and services to market. Applications will be accepted until March 25, 2013.

“Last year, ZeroTo510 was launched as the first-ever program of its kind in the United States focused on medical devices”

In researching best practices for recruiting and retaining top-qualified HIT candidates, Oregon Health Network turned to the Learning Based Apprentice Program at OCHIN (www.ochin.org). OCHIN, based in Portland, Oregon, is an organization that helps providers and practices across the country select, install, and effectively use health IT.

Beyond involvement in these types of trainings, here are the bigger picture best practices they gleaned from an apprenticeship program:

Digital technology has transformed virtually all aspects of how we live, and now it's ready to revolutionize health care. In The Creative Destruction of Medicine, Dr. Eric Topal makes a convincing argument that the digital revolution will deconstruct how health care is delivered. For example, hand-held digital devices will provide precise diagnostic information virtually anywhere and transmit it instantaneously wherever needed. Smart phones and e-tablets will give individuals access to applications allowing them to understand and manage their health or disease.