Observations in a maternity ward: Usability considerations for EHRs in an interrupt driven environment


Autoria(s): Cooper, Roslyn; Viller, Stephen; Burmeister, Jay
Contribuinte(s)

Karin Walduck

Branko Cesnik

Chu, Stephen

Data(s)

01/01/2004

Resumo

With the increasing demand on healthcare systems it is imperative that all care is provided as efficiently and effectively as possible. Technology within the medical domain offers an exciting opportunity to augment work practices in order to meet these needs. This research project explores the implications of the interrupt-driven nature of work in clinical situations on documentation within an environment that increasingly involves electronic health records (EHRs). Midwives in a busy maternity ward were observed and interviewed about the work practices they employed to document information associated with patient care. The results showed that the interrupt-driven nature of the workplace, a feature common to many healthcare settings, led to a tension between the work and the work to document the work. Further, the IT environment in which the information was collected was not designed to cater for frequent interruption of the data entry process. Several recommendations for improving the IT environment are proposed to support health professionals in documenting patient data whilst attending to the interruptions. The recommendations include timeout screens, push technology, use of handheld PDAs, and cues to augment documentation in an interrupted session. Copyright © 2008 RMIT Publishing

Identificador

http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:101451

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Health Informatics Society of Australia

Palavras-Chave #E1 #280104 Computer-Human Interaction #280112 Information Systems Development Methodologies #321203 Health Information Systems (incl. Surveillance) #730399 Health and support services not elsewhere classified
Tipo

Conference Paper