Open System Interfaces for Automated Patient Records

Automated Patient Records (APRs) have recently been cited as a critical emerging technologyin independent reports from the Institute of Medicine and the General Accounting Office. In the wakeof recent research successes, the first generation of commercial APR systems has emerged.However,both research and commercial APR developments so far have been technology-driven, focusing primarilyon specific hardware or database technologies, without sufficient emphasis on user-requirements orinterface research. As a result, existing systems have met resistance from the user community,particularly on issues of user interface and usability.The proposed research addresses these problems,bringing together a team of leading human-computer interface researchers and APR experts to performa user-oriented design for a novel APR interface. This analysis will apply methods of organizational andcognitive analysis developed by the principal investigator in prior research. The full APR interface,which includes multiple views of the APR data, based on different modes and contexts of access, isimplemented in Phase II, using open systems technology such as X-Windows/MOTIF software, to renderit portable and able to be integrated into a wide range of present and future APR systems.