The explosion of smart devices, sensors, and connected appliances has made good software design and intelligent displays for our apps more important than ever. My kids are digital natives and they have no mercy when it comes to evaluating an app -- they decide within less than a minute if the user interface works and may reject it that quickly.
I don't think clinicians are any different, they make their assessment of personal value very quickly. I have seen the "the look of disappointment" when trainers say to physicians "this is what we have and I can train you how to workaround that problem" as they introduce new features.
So why is HIT so hard to use? Having been working in the field of medical informatics for 17 years, I have asked myself and others that question many times. The short answers: we focus on episodic care, medical billing, medical-legal protection, regulatory compliance .... and clinical communication. That is a long list of purposes and it always seems like clear, concise and rapid clinical communication comes in last place.
I am pleased to participate in this blog on building and growing a health innovation zone. During future posts, I will share our progress on refining intelligent displays that leverage the explosion of amazing technology that is available today.
There has never been a more exciting time to be in medical informatics.
Todd Rowland MD
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