Combining a scientific approach and prototyping in the design of EHCR systems

In this paper, it is emphasized that electronic medical record systems cannot totally be developed in the traditional way. The underlying process of how physicians or nurses are searching for information is not fully understood. Therefore, a method that combines a scientific approach and prototyping is advocated. With the help of this advocated approach, these questions could be answered in a way that was also scientifically sound. In this contribution, two examples of the use of this method are presented. One concerns the determination of the optimum granularity of the narrative parts of the electronic healthcare record (EHCR) and the other concerns the use and impact of stand-alone protocol systems.