Streamlining Health Care: Inpatient Dashboard as a User-Centric Solution in EHR Enhancement

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Medical Technology
• Clinical Workflow Optimization

Background:

• Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are vital for modern healthcare, improving patient data management and delivery.
• Despite benefits, EHRs often present challenges to physician satisfaction and efficiency.
• The Inpatient Dashboard is an EHR companion tool designed to streamline clinical information, standardize notes, and enhance safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of the Inpatient Dashboard on physician satisfaction, perceived safety, efficiency, and workload stress.
• To evaluate user preference for the Inpatient Dashboard compared to existing systems.

Main Methods:

• A survey was conducted among 68 respondents from 4 general medicine teams at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System.
• Data was collected from December 2018 to September 2019.
• The survey focused on user satisfaction, safety, efficiency, and workload.

Main Results:

• The Inpatient Dashboard demonstrated high user satisfaction.
• A significant majority (86%) of respondents preferred the Inpatient Dashboard over the Computerized Patient Records System (CPRS).
• The tool was perceived to improve efficiency and safety measures.

Conclusions:

• The Inpatient Dashboard represents an innovative, user-centric EHR solution.
• It achieved high user satisfaction within a Veterans Health Administration hospital setting.
• This tool offers a promising approach to addressing EHR usability challenges.