Importance Of Giving EMRs Simple Interfaces For Complex Functionalities
The healthcare industry is becoming more and more digitalized these days. It is essential for medical practices and clinical organizations to transform themselves from an outdated paper-based system to an electronic medical records (EMR) software solution. Appointment scheduling, one click patient search, medical, electronic prescription, claims processing and lab integration are some of the complex functions of an EMR software solution. In order to suit the specific requirements of clinical practices and caregivers customized EMR solutions are becoming popular.
The user interface of a tailor-made EMR solution should be developed in such a way that it facilitates accurate data entry as simple as possible at the point of patient service. The target device (desktop, laptop, touch screen, tablet, etc.) should be kept in mind while building the UI of a custom EMR software. In this blog, let’s understand how to develop a simple yet effective user interface for an EMR solution.
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· Build Role-Specific User Interfaces: Your EMR software must present the user with a screen or a dashboard that is specific to the user’s role. For example, if a nurse logs into the app, the UI should display functionality specific to her role. Developing a role-specific UI will help you to create a simpler, more focused and influential user experiences (UX). Your EMR software should enable users to set a default screen to match their specific role as well as their preferences. In some cases, users should be able to switch to other user displays only if they have the required credentials which will let them access areas of the application that require authorization for advanced functionality.
· Focus On User Preferences to Create a Positive User Experience: Different medical practitioners will use your EMR software differently. Some may prefer dictation as their input modes while some might choose typing or handwriting. For example, you can incorporate the feature of handwriting recognition in your user interface for a physician who prefers taking notes by hand. Similarly, for physicians who prefer dictation, you can develop a UI that allows them to easily upload an audio file of a patient visit and associate it with the patient’s records. Your EMR system must facilitate smooth switching between these different input modalities and offer a UI that focuses primarily on the particular input mode which is in use.
· Develop Device Specific UI Patterns: Medical staff and doctors use different devices to access EMR software. You have to develop a UI which is both roles and task-specific so that it facilitates quick entry of patient information. For example, if a nurse in an exam room is using a tablet PC or a touch screen on the wall to record patient’s vitals, then your EMRs UI should offer a simple dashboard with touch screen-specific controls, for instance, the finger swipe functionality to scroll up and down or a light tap on the screen to choose specific fields in the patient record and manually enter the required details. An ideal user interface of an EMR should display the records clearly so that the medical practitioners can obtain an overview of the patient’s history, facilitate the process of instant searching for a patient, and let users easily pick the specific fields when entering new health-related data of the patients.
To guarantee that this balance is met, EMR software vendors and physicians can take advantage of the expert healthcare software developers with a wealth of experience in creating custom EMR systems that feature simple user interface with defined user roles, and have specific UI patterns designed for each device with the best material design guidelines and in the set up of that particular healthcare provider or clinical practice.
