NIST researchers analyzed recent literature on physician workarounds, identifying those used most commonly, for example, copying and pasting a patient’s previous progress note to serve as a template for the next time that patient is seen. These findings helped to identify the clinical activities that require more relevant and flexible workflows in EHR designs to better serve physicians’ needs.
Researchers then held discussions with physicians and other experts to discover opportunities for EHR vendors to improve usability, including incorporating the ability to drop or delay tasks during high-volume periods, the ability to redact and summarize laboratory results and the ability to distinguish between new information in a progress note and information copied from a previous note.
The researchers believe including these functionalities in EHRs could not only foster EHR adoption among physicians but also help the EHRs achieve their stated goal of improving care quality and delivery.
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