| Effective information flow and knowledge sharing between healthcare professionals and patients, and among healthcare professionals at different stages of care, is essential to quality patient care. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Care (HITECH) Act of 2009 has placed regulations on many healthcare organizations to transition from paper records to electronic records. The electronic health record (EHR) is an integral part of patient care and valid and accurate information dissemination. However, current evaluations, such as those from the Institute of Medicine, of these electronic implementations are sub-par. The EHR is not error-proof; its contributions to successful patient outcomes are dependent on the compatibility of EHR implementation and information flow between healthcare professionals and patients. This dissertation examines patient and healthcare professional perspectives of expertise, communication effectiveness, task coordination, and the sharing of information (with and without the EHR) in outpatient OB/GYN clinical care. Questionnaires, interviews, and author experience in EHR training led to the development of low-fidelity prototypes to help consolidate healthcare professional needs in a usable screen format. Low-fidelity prototype evaluations were conducted with healthcare professionals to help address information and knowledge sharing needs and alleviate complexities of task completion through the EHR. |
