Translating Research into Agile Development (TRIAD): Development of Electronic Health Record Tools for Primary Care...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Primary Care Technology
• Clinical Software Development

Background:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are crucial in primary care, but often require customization to meet specific clinical needs.
• Integrating specialized services like behavioral health into primary care necessitates tailored EHR functionalities.
• Existing EHR systems may not adequately support the unique workflows of embedded behavioral health clinicians (BHCs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a method for developing customized EHR tools for primary care settings.
• To evaluate the efficacy of the TRIAD method in creating a specialized EHR tool for BHCs.
• To introduce the BH e-Suite, an EHR tool developed using the TRIAD method.

Main Methods:

• The study employed the Translating Research into Agile Development (TRIAD) method, a five-step collaborative process.
• TRIAD involves assessment, structured engagement, data distillation, developmental feedback, and agile scrum sprints.
• The method was used to modify an existing EHR, resulting in the BH e-Suite for embedded BHCs.

Main Results:

• The TRIAD method facilitated the development of eight new EHR features for the BH e-Suite.
• Key features included automated screening tools and goal-tracking functionality for BHCs.
• The development process involved iterative feedback from BHCs on design prototypes and functionality.

Conclusions:

• The TRIAD method is effective for developing EHR functionality to meet evolving health professional needs.
• The BH e-Suite, developed via TRIAD, proved acceptable, user-friendly, and improved care delivery.
• The successful adoption of BH e-Suite by OCHIN Inc. highlights TRIAD as a promising R&D approach.