Robert Schumacher to Discuss the State of Usability in Procurement of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) at TEPR

Recent research directed toward understanding the slow adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) has shown that poor usability is listed among the top barriers to implementation. Other frequently cited reasons for lack of adoption – security, privacy, and systems integration – are outranked by concerns over system usability and productivity concerns.  Usability is also a factor in why EHR implementations fail.   Simply put, medical professionals find many EHRs hard to use. User Centric's research on the EHR procurement process shows that usability is rarely considered during EHR selection. Dr. Robert Schumacher, PhD, Managing Director, will be motivating the need for and showing specifically how to use usability criteria during the EHR procurement process.

EHRs are quickly becoming the hot topic as a national push to expand the support of computerized medical records has accelerated in the new administration. In a speech on January 8, President Obama stated his support of EHRs, “ To improve the quality of our health care while lowering its costs, we will make the immediate investments necessary to ensure that within five years, all of America 's medical records are computerized." With EHRs holding a national spotlight, it is important to break down the barriers to implementation.

The TEPR Medical Records conference will be held in Palm Springs, CA from Feb 2-5, 2009. For conference program visit http://www.medrecinst.com/TEPR/TEPRProgram.php.