Reducing the Clinician Burden: Shaping Health IT as an Asset

As adoption of health, IT has increased, we have seen firsthand how usability issues associated with the underlying software, implementation choices made by practices and institutions, and lack of effective training can diminish the desired impact of health IT use. Well-meaning initiatives promoting field-defined, actionable data have led to “check the box” workflows and subsequent loss of the patient’s narrative.

Rectifying these issues requires coordinated attention to improved design of health IT systems, better system configuration decisions, and effective end-user training during implementation. These actions can help health IT to function as an asset instead of an obstacle and positively impact usability, safety, clinician satisfaction with health IT, and care.

To keep advancing health IT, all of us across the health care system need to continue emphasizing user-centered design and human factors, and ergonomics.