Lead User Design: Medication Management in Electronic Medical Records

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) offer potential benefits but often suffer from usability issues impacting medication management.
• Preventable medication errors remain a significant concern in healthcare, highlighting the need for improved EMR functionalities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an innovative design for the medication management module within primary care EMRs.
• To address usability and user experience challenges in current EMR medication systems.

Main Methods:

• A novel study combining the lead user method with a safety engineering review.
• Recruitment of eight lead users (prescribers, clinical pharmacists) with expertise in EMR design and medication safety.
• Prototyping and validation of eight distinct medication management module designs, followed by synthesis into a unified interactive prototype.

Main Results:

• The integrated approach effectively elicited diverse user goals and synthesized them into a cohesive design.
• The resulting design prioritizes quality, efficiency, safety, reduced cognitive load, and improved communication among care teams and with patients.
• Identified design concepts are being adapted for integration into an existing EMR product.

Conclusions:

• The lead user method combined with safety review is an effective strategy for designing user-centered EMR medication management modules.
• The developed design concepts offer a pathway to enhance medication safety and user experience in primary care settings.
• Further work is needed to adapt and implement these design ideas into current EMR systems.