Robert Schumacher Presents at HIMSS Conference EHR Usability Symposium

Co-author of the recently released National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Guide to the Processes Approach for Improving the Usability of Electronic Health Records, Dr. Robert Schumacher, presented at the HIMSS 2011 conference on health information technology usability.  In his presentation, Schumacher, Managing Director of User Centric, discussed how to implement a program to improve usability of health information technologies.

Dr. Schumacher also discussed assessment tools to determine an organization’s usability readiness, and gave recommendations for instituting usability programs within the organization/enterprise, with regard to people, processes and management support. He also suggested supplemental resources, such as books, websites, pattern libraries, standards/guidelines, coursework, consultants, etc. Many of the principles discussed were released in a white paper by HIMSS this week; Dr. Schumacher was a co-author on this paper.

Developed in junction with NIST, AHRQ, AMIA and the ONC on Electronic Health Record (EHR) Usability, the pre-conference Usability Symposium was held at the 2011 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference on Feb. 20, and targeted development departments, system analysts and implementation consultants from industry and health systems.  The program had speakers who are leaders in government, industry and academia.  It was designed to provide a background of human factors engineering, usability and design as well as to share practical case studies to improve EHR development and customization.  Dr. Schumacher was one of the organizers of the symposium.

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About the ARRA Usability Symposium

This symposium will address topics contributing to EMR usability from the developer and system analyst perspective involving human factors engineering, cognitive task analysis and design. EMR usability principles which affect efficiencies and patient safety in order to drive adoption of HIT and the achievement of meaningful use will be reviewed.

About HIMSS

HIMSS is a cause-based not-for-profit organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of information technology (IT) and management systems for the betterment of healthcare. HIMSS frames and leads healthcare practices and public policy through its content expertise, professional development, and research initiatives designed to promote information and management systems’ contributions to improving the quality, safety, access, and cost-effectiveness of patient care. To learn more about HIMSS visit www.himss.org.