User Centered Design

See the following -

Been there, Done that, Doesn’t Work: Veterans Health Administration IT goes back in time

If you have an interest in the worlds of economics, healthcare or technology, here’s a story that’s emerged this month that is worth noting for the record books. In the US, amidst the chaos of the Trump administration, yet another mistake has been made this month. For the record, it is worth noting that the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA) ended up with a contract for a large IT solution for the next 10 years worth about $10 billion as of May 2018. On the face of it that may appear to be unremarkable news: just another big expensive contract for an IT system. Yet there is a part sad/part silly dimension to it that is well worth flagging up at this point.

Read More »

On the Need for Human-Centered Design in EHRs

Health information technology (HIT) has become the hottest political issue in Washington. The healthcare industry in the United States is facing a crisis as medical facilities have spent hundreds of billions of dollars implementing electronic health record (EHR) systems, yet patients and the physicians and nurses that care for them are seeing few benefits. Congress has been holding hearings focused on detailing the problems and trying to write legislation that will provide a solution to the crisis. The HIT interoperability bill drafted by Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) is one example. These are welcome first steps. However, none of the bills currently before Congress, and none of the hearings, are addressing the two most important issues facing medical providers today. These are lack of EHR usability, and the inability to have a patients’ entire medical record at the point of care.

Read More »

OpenMRS Holds World Wide Summit in Singapore

OpenMRS held its first annual World Wide Summit for interested participants and contributors (including developers and implementers) in Singapore from December 8-14, 2015. The World Wide Summit meeting is designed to create a collaborative global space to share and discuss work and ideas about OpenMRS, showcase innovative development that has occurred over the last year, and support an OpenMRS Hackathon. This first annual summit was planned to build, support and grow the OpenMRS community as well as the OpenMRS software suite. The conference was attended by over 100 participants from 6 continents. There were more than 50 sessions by close to 30 speakers.

Read More »