Usability Evaluation Handbook for Electronic Health Records

Usability is the key to successful use of EHRs resulting in safe, easy to use and useful applications. Good usability saves money by reducing the time and resources needed for training and post-implementation support, lessens the negative impact on productivity and diminishes technology-induced errors. It also promotes user satisfaction and adoption.

There have been numerous outcries from improved EHR usability. These arise at granular level by physicians, nurses and other clinicians in hospitals, clinics and other healthcare settings. They also are more formally voiced by organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA), American College of Physician (ACP) and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA). Even the Office of the National Coordinator has openly cited EHR usability as a priority.

This book is all about usability in EHRs. The content covers everything from measurement to improvement. It is not just for vendors and software programmers but for organizations that purchase EHRs and customize them thereby impacting the usability of the application. The book is for everyone who wants to participate in the improvement of EHRs.

Linda Harrington PhD,DNP,RN-BC,CNS,UXC,CPHQ,CENP,CPHIMS,FHIMSS

Dr. Harrington has 20 years of experience with clinical information systems in hospitals, clinics and home health. She is a former Chief Nursing Informatics Officer and an accomplished informaticist, expert in usability and safety of health IT as well as digital strategy. Linda holds a doctorate and post-masters certificate in informatics from Duke University, a top-ranked informatics program. She is board certified in nursing informatics, a HIMSS Fellow, and one of few healthcare informaticists certified in user experience. Linda is a prolific author with over 100 published articles plus a national and international speaker on nursing informatics. She serves as the Technology Today column editor for the American Association of Critical-care Nurses’ Advanced Critical Care journal and is on the editorial board of the Journal for Healthcare Quality. Linda is the lead author of the HIMSS book, Usability Evaluation Handbook for Electronic Health Records. She is also involved in national health IT policy, serving on the American Medical Informatics Association’s EHR 2020 Task Force as well as the American Nurses Association’s workgroup on the newly released Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice.

Craig Harrington is a seasoned technology professional who began his career as a software developer for Texas Instruments 30 years ago. From that inauspicious beginning, Craig quickly moved into positions of increasing responsibility, serving as a development manager for off-the-shelf software packages; director of website operations for one of the largest commercial air travel reservation sites on the internet; vice president of an IT department with 150 employees; and a partner in a startup consulting company providing technology solutions for Fortune 500 companies. More recently Craig served as the contract project manager on a project to implement a complex electronic health record (EHR) system for the transplant services of a well-known Texas-based healthcare company. He is now the lead designer for the US Department of Veteran Affairs for their next generation EHR.

Usability is a passion of Craig's which follows from his experience with software systems and his academic pursuits. As a student at UTHSC – Houston, Craig was chosen to work on the Strategic Healthcare Advanced Research Project – Cognitive (SHARPC). Craig also was a key contributor on a groundbreaking project to develop the Quality Health Record system which is pioneering a new approach to patient care designed to provide improved patient outcomes, increase user satisfaction and reduce overall costs.

Craig has a passion working with startups and small companies. He was a key member of the leadership team that grew ObjectSpace, a software company that specialized in object-oriented consulting services, training, and products, from 12 people to over 300 people working across the country. As a partner in Ponder Research Group, Craig's clients included Aloha Airlines, T-Mobile, and Clearwire.

Craig has undergraduates degrees in psychology (UNC-Chapel Hill) and computer science (University of Texas at San Antonio) and masters degrees in social work (University of Texas at Arlington) and Health Informatics (University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston). Craig has received awards both for his academic performance and for his research efforts; and he is a licensed social worker and a Certified Professional in Health Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS).