< + > Usability and Patient Safety Go Hand in Hand

As you probably read, I had the great opportunity to attend the eClinicalWorks annual conference.   One of the most interesting comments in the keynote was this truth bomb that was shared during the opening keynote: “Usability and patient safety go hand in hand.”

Usability and patient safety go hand in hand. #truthbomb @eClinicalWorks #eCWNC22

Example: noise in drug interaction alerting.

— John Lynn (@techguy) October 7, 2022

I’d never heard anyone say this.  I’ve understood the concept, but it was great to hear it described so succinctly.  I wonder how many other EHR vendors think about this concept.

For those not familiar with it, it’s easy to understand when you think about something like the prescribing process.  I’ve seen so many across a wide variety of EHR vendors.  If the interface is not usable, then many users will take shortcuts and that can put patients in harms way.  Some of you may remember the lawsuit that came out because a child was prescribed an adult dosage.  Another example of usability putting patients at risk.

I could give more specific clinical examples, but this can also be applied more broadly as well.  For example, if the EHR or other health IT software is difficult to use, it can cause two important patient safety issues.  First, it can prevent a doctor from getting access to the information they need so that they can treat the patient effectively. If it’s hard to get at that information or if it’s slow to find that information because the software isn’t user friendly, then the doctor may proceed without that information.  This could be a major patient safety issue.

Second, if the software a doctor is using isn’t very user friendly, it can lead to a lot of frustration.  This frustration can be a distraction from what the doctor needs to focus on: the patient.  If you’ve been a patient you may have seen this displayed in a couple ways.  First, you may see the clinician working on the computer frustrated that it’s not working the way it should.  Second, you may remember a clinician entering your room frustrated by the usability of a software system.  It often takes a minute for them to get over it and focus on the task at hand.  Neither of these scenarios is good and both present patient safety issues.

This reframe of usability should be the focus of every health IT company and specifically EHR vendors.  Usability matter since unusable software puts patient at risk.  No one wants those patient safety issues.