Cognitive engineering design of an emergency department information system

The role of information technology (IT) within health care is growing at a rapid rate. When designed effectively, health IT has the potential to improve patient care, safe patient outcomes, and the efficiency with which health care is provided (Institute of Medicine Committee on Quality of Health Care in America 2001; Aspden et al. 2004); however, simply implementing technology does not guarantee these benefits (Littlejohns et al. 2003). Instead, as the number of electronic systems in health care continues to grow, there is a need to ensure that systems are designed based on a nuanced and comprehensive understanding of the complex needs of multiple types of users. For instance, the “end users” of health IT systems include clinical staff (nurses, physicians, pharmacists, technicians, etc.) who enter and view patient health information during direct patient care, administrative workers such as coders and billers, administrators who may be interested in high-level summaries or status overviews, and patients and families who are affected by the information presented.