8 reasons why AMA calling for design overhaul of EHRs

Chicago-The American Medical Association (AMA)-in responding to physicians’ demands for solutions to electronic health record (EHR) systems that have neglected usability as a necessary feature-has outlined eight priorities for improving EHR usability that would benefit caregivers and patients.

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“Physician experiences documented by the AMA and RAND demonstrate that most EHR systems fail to support efficient and effective clinical work,” said Steven J. Slack, MD, AMA president-elect. “This has resulted in physicians feeling increasingly demoralized by technology that interferes with their ability to provide first-rate medical care to their patients.”

To leverage the power of EHRs for better patient care, improving productivity, and reducing administrative costs, the AMA provided the following usability priorities along with related challenges:

• Enhance physicians’ ability to provide high-quality patient care

• Support team-based care

• Promote care coordination

• Offer product modularity and configurability

• Reduce cognitive workload

• Promote data liquidity

• Facilitate digital and mobile patient engagement

• Expedite user input into product design and post-implementation feedback

These priorities were developed with the support of an external advisory committee composed of practicing physicians, as well as noted experts, researchers, and executives in the field of health information technology.

The AMA has called for the federal government to acknowledge the challenges physicians face and abandon the all-or-nothing approach for meeting meaningful use standards, according to a prepared statement. Moreover, federal certification criteria for EHRs need to allow vendors to better focus on the clinical needs of their physician customers.

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