Opinion
EMRs are not designed now with human factors in mind
LETTER — Posted Sept. 17, 2007
Regarding "EMRs don't guarantee quality care: 50,000 patient records reviewed" (Article, Aug. 13): Until recently it has almost been blasphemy to suggest a possible negative impact of health information technology on patient safety, yet I suspect that the available electronic medical records decrease error in some ways, and increase error in others.
It may be that we haven't yet developed tools sophisticated enough to detect those errors, but we cannot assume such errors don't exist. I look forward to the day when the EMR has dense display of information, is quick and intuitive to navigate, and has one-click access to action or second-priority information -- in short, when a human-factors perspective is fully integrated into HIT design. Until then, we are indeed still waiting for Godot.
Christine A. Sinsky, MD, Dubuque, Iowa
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/09/17/edlt0917.htm.
