Usability of Health Informatics Applications
Electronic Health Record (EHRs) is a real-time, systematized repertoire of electronically-stored health data in a digital format and can be accessed instantly and securely by authorized personnel. Its implementation marked overall improvement in healthcare service delivery by enhancing efficiency, patient safety, and real-time access to health records (Florence, 2016). The AdvancedMD EHR for iOS is a smartphone application developed by Apple Inc., enabling users to access medical histories. Users can review, edit, add, and print records of patient charts, immunizations, prescriptions, diagnosis, and laboratory results (Advancedmd.com, 2020). The application is fully-featured EHR designed to expedite accurate documentation and reduce the patient backlog.
Design Usability
Usability refers to the capacity of users to accurately and efficiently execute tasks using a given application. The AdvancedMD EHR is designed for use by tech-savvy medical professionals. The app features hands-free notes for voice recognition to ensure that every detail of patient-physician conversations is recorded and that doctors have more time to engage the patients during clinical encounters. Also, it contains a feature for lab integration, remote charting, and patient note. Using this feature, clinicians can access test results and incorporate notes and charts simultaneously. Meanwhile, the E-prescription feature ensures that patients receive their prescriptions directly on their mobile devices in tandem with their disease manifestations (Advancedmd, 2020). There is also the clinical image capture, which can be deployed in the field to assist clinicians in securing instantaneous clinical image upload. The application includes a scheduling icon that enables users to add, delete, or reschedule appointments. The app pushes notifications to remind the physician about upcoming appointments. AdvancedMD is a customized application with primary care attributes configured to support clinical tasks and processes.
Impact of Human Factors
An optimum computer interface is imperative to enable clinicians to exploit the full potential of AdvancedMD EHRs. Human research promotes an understanding of the application’s functionalities, which improves efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction (Johnson et al., 2011). Maintaining high levels of discipline when using the application will enhance productivity, reduce the time required to complete tasks, prevent errors, and promote safety. Also, it enhances ease of learning new skills; hence, cutting down the costs incurred in training and modifications. However, human errors can have a significant impact on the efficiency and accuracy of the application. Without proper usability, clinicians will encounter negative consequences such as developing workarounds.
Since mobile EHR is a recent development, there are no definite solutions to overarching problems pertaining to the application’s design, functionality, and efficiency of personal computers and hand-held devices such as the Apple iPad (Amith et al., 2012). Therefore, Heuristic principles are used to identify and resolve arising from the usability of available system features such as missing critical functionalities, incompatibility between interface features and user tasks, and poor reliability of the software. Therefore, heuristic principles can be used to solve problems of editing information, uploading documents, updating schedules, and adding ICD codes (advancedmd.com, 2020). In advancedMD design, availability, anchoring, and representativeness are used to evaluate user interface designs.
Recommendation for Improvement
AdvancedMD is designed for iOS users only because the software is customized to operate optimally on branded Apple phones. In that respect, users of other operating systems cannot benefit from the software’s usability. Besides, the application is more compatible with Internet Explorer, which is the least preferred browser by tech-savvy users. According to users, some of the EHR’s features are cumbersome and complex to use (Medical software reviews, 2020). Also, the application lacks many handy features for other disciplines other than psychotherapy sole practice. Therefore, it is recommended that Apple introduces a simplified version of the software with improved features for dental medicine, surgery, and occupational therapy, among others. Also, the application should be customized for use in android phones to cater to the needs patients that are acquainted with the usability of android phones. Additionally, users need the training to avoid wasting time on self-learning about the usability of the app.
Rationale
Enhanced implementation of EHRs in hospitals and healthcare settings has increased its use by clinicians and patients. Currently, it is used as an interactive platform to consult doctors and receive prescriptions. When developing AdancedMD EHR, Apple was targeting a knowledgeable, tech-savvy customer base. However, the app has amassed increased usability in the general audience, which is medical literate. Therefore, the software should be improved to make its functionality much easier to comprehend (Medical Software Reviews, 2020). Also, the features should flexible for customization but individuals without necessarily having to contact the company. These improvements will enable specialists in different fields to continuously update medication, aging information, and billing reports.
Conclusion
Advanced MD confers multiple benefits to users, including value for money, customer support, good functionality, and ease of use for tech-savvy, knowledgeable audiences. The application can carry out multiple functions simultaneously, including managing patient history, demographics, and medication lists, and capturing external clinical data and documents. However, it is impossible to customize the features to suit individual needs without contacting the manufacturer. Therefore, it is recommended for Apple to introduce an improved version with additional customizable features. Also, the application should be compatible with other browsers like Opera and Mozilla that are mostly preferred by users.
References
Advancedmd.com. (2020). Mobile App Updates Feature Enhancements | AdvancedMD.
AdvancedMD. Retrieved 5 June 2020, from https://www.advancedmd.com/learn/mobile-app-updates-feature-enhancements/.
Amith, M., Loubser, P. G., Chapman, J., Zoker, K. C., & Ferreira, F. E. R. (2012). Optimization
of an EHR mobile application using the UFuRT conceptual framework. In AMIA Annual Symposium Proceedings (Vol. 2012, p. 209). American Medical Informatics Association. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3540562/
Florence, F. O. (2016). Current roles and applications of electronic health record in the
healthcare system. International Journal of Medical Research & Health Sciences, 5(12), 48-51. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Florence_Odekunle3/publication/311572063_Current_Roles_and_Applications_of_Electronic_Health_Record_in_the_Healthcare_System/links/584dde7808aecb6bd8c9b639.pdf
Johnson, C. M., Johnston, D., & Crowle, P. K. (2011). EHR usability toolkit: A background
report on usability and electronic health records. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjin8OKy-rpAhVLx4UKHY0qAQ8QFjAAegQIAxAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fdigital.ahrq.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fdocs%2Fcitation%2FEHR_Usability_Toolkit_Background_Report.pdf&usg=AOvVaw13k-H3NcHnVXcDFMwDYhcZ
Medical software reviews. (2020). AdvancedMD Reviews & Ratings | 2020 | Software Advice.
Softwareadvice.com. Retrieved 5 June 2020, from https://www.softwareadvice.com/medical/advancedmd-advancedemr-profile/reviews/.