User Centric Offers New Service, Usability Diagnostics, to Measure HIT Usability

Responding to increased attention about clinical productivity and adoption of Health IT (HIT), User Centric, Inc. announced a new service for the healthcare industry called Usability Diagnostics™ for solution providers. Among the technologies targeted for these service offerings are: Electronic Health Records (EHR), Electronic Medical Records (EMR), ePrescribing, Practice Management, and other clinical applications.

Usability Diagnostics is designed to support the needs of HIT solution providers who want to measure usability and improve their application. In controlled research settings, clinicians are asked to use an HIT application to complete common, well-defined clinical activities including use cases outlined by the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. "To this point, HIT solutions providers have been focusing on functionality and technology, but the persistent issue holding down adoption is usability," says Robert Schumacher, Ph.D., Managing Director, User Centric. "Meaningful Use" cannot be achieved if the application is not usable."

HIT Usability Diagnostics benefits: 

• Independent (objective) feedback on the relevance of the HIT solution user interface to clinicians' activities and workflow
• Time and performance metrics on the HIT solution in research settings
• Usability issues impact of the interface on clinicians or staff
• Benchmark performance and satisfaction ratings from clinicians
• Specific recommendations for addressing navigation and workflow, screen design, and labeling issues identified by clinicians

HIT Usability Diagnostics engages a panel of clinicians and leverages User Centric's experience in healthcare usability to provide actionable findings for making the EHR user experience more intuitive and usable. "It's a triple win." says Schumacher, "By optimizing user interfaces, solution providers can better serve their clients – the clinicians and HCOs – so the physician can focus more on actual patient care."

Usability is a hot topic in HIT.  User Centric's recently published white paper entitled "How to Select an Electronic Health Record System that Health Care Professionals Can Use" demonstrates how usability and user experience can be integrated into the selection of Health IT in general and EHRs in particular.

For more information about this new service, visit www.usercentric.com/applications/usability-diagnostics, contact Robert Schumacher (630-320-3900) or visit User Centric at HIMSS 2009 (www.himss.org) in Chicago - Booth #3382.

About HIMSS

Founded in 1961, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to ensuring quality patient care. www.himss.org

About User Centric, Inc.

User Centric is a global consulting firm that focuses on improving user experience. We apply our expertise to projects involving handhelds, web sites, software, medical devices, print, packaging, and telephony services. Experience, quality, value, global reach and outstanding client services set us apart. Our services include user research, user interface design consulting, information architecture, usability testing, user interface evaluations, eye tracking, and online surveys. Learn more about us at www.UserCentric.com.