Researchers found that 76 percent of clinicians preferred a well-designed information tool that focuses on improved search capabilities to lessen clinician burnout and cognitive workload.
The implementation of well-designed information tools in EHR can reduce clinician cognitive workload and thus clinician burnout, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.
“Instead of searching, finding, and remembering the clinical details required to identify the same patterns, physicians could benefit from new EHR-derived visualizations to assist them,” explained the study authors. “Freeing physicians from search-intensive tasks reduces their cognitive workload, allowing them to focus on what matters most—caring for their patients.”
The study, which consisted of 29 physicians at Seattle Children’s Hospital, utilized information visualization tools in the EHR that identified and highlighted clinical patterns. The use of these tools significantly lowered clinician cognitive workload and they fared much better than the tools that required clinicians to spend more time searching for similar information.
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“We assessed the cognitive workload associated with the use of three novel visualizations of EHR data designed to support physicians during the clinical prioritization process by exploring the association of different data organization and visualization strategies with cognitive workload,” they wrote. “We hypothesized that well-designed visualization tools would be associated with reductions in cognitive workload and could support physicians during the clinical prioritization process.”
The tools offered visualizations of disease acuity, problem view, which is a problem-focused approach to data organization and presentation, and change view, which highlights abnormal activity or change within a single visualization.
Using the NASA Task Load Index, cognitive workload was measured and assessed for finding information about a specific patient and comparing results among patients for each prototype.
Researchers found that the change prototype scored the lowest, while also scoring the highest usability scores of the three novel visualizations. In fact, 76 percent of the responding clinicians preferred this prototype, even though it was an unfamiliar method for clinicians.
Using this method, clinicians who were accustomed to seeing an overload of data across several screens, could now observe and assess data easily. The change prototype simplified the search process and focused on the organization of data in the EHR.
On the other hand, the acuity and problem visualization tools did not simplify search methods. These two prototypes increased cognitive workload due to poor visualization and structure.
“This study provides additional evidence that designing concept-oriented visualizations requires a human-centered approach to uncover the content, organization, and visualization methods to best support the information needs of practicing physicians,” researchers concluded.
This study is another example as to how a simple visual aid in the EHR, rather than an interruptive alert, reduces clinician burnout.
According to another study in the JAMA Network Open, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found a that a simple visual aid implemented into the EHR resulted in a 49 percent decrease in unintentional orders for laboratory tests and a 40 percent decrease in unintentional duplicate orders for radiology tests, thus limiting clinician burnout.
“In our EHR, it takes a minimum of 9 clicks and password entry to cancel an order,” researchers wrote. “Estimating the burden of order cancellation at 9 clicks and 30 seconds, the estimated reduction in unintended duplicate orders saved 17 936 clicks (not including the password) in the year after the intervention, which amounts to 16 hours and 36 minutes of regained productivity.”
Instead of the interruptive alert that occurred after the ordering process, researchers set up an EHR visual aid that placed a simple red highlight around the checkbox of the order, signifying that the test or medication was ordered.
“This type of EHR-based reminder may be a useful alternative to interruptive, post-order alerts for reducing duplicate order entry,” wrote the researchers. “We believe guiding clinicians to a right action is better than telling the clinician they have made an error. This approach may help reduce alert fatigue and lessen clinician stress and burnout associated with EHRs.”
Source: EHR Intelligence