Owning Attention: Applying Human Factors Principles to Support Clinical Decision Support

Abstract

In the best examples, clinical decision support (CDS) systems guide clinician decision-making and actions, prevent errors, improve quality, reduce costs, save time, and promote the use of evidence-based recommendations. However, the potential solution that CDS represents are limited by problems associated with improper design, implementation, and local customization. Despite an emphasis on electronic health record usability, little progress has been made to protect end-users from inadequately designed workflows and unnecessary interruptions. Intelligent and personalized design creates an opportunity to tailor CDS not just at the patient level but specific to the disease condition, provider experience, and available resources at the healthcare system level. This chapter leverages the Five Rights of CDS framework to demonstrate the application of human factors engineering principles and emerging trends to optimize data analytics, usability, workflow, and design.