IOM group calls for IT user-feedback system

A discussion paper from a work group affiliated with the Institute of Medicine proposes ways to report clinicians' experiences using health information technology. Such a reporting system could forestall the development of federal regulations targeting IT vendors, the paper's authors said.

The authors of the 11-page "Comparative User Experiences of Health IT Products: How User Experiences Would Be Reported and Used" (PDF), propose "a voluntary, multimodal, multistakeholder approach" to health IT safety reporting, including the reporting of patient safety hazards introduced by the use of IT systems.

A voluntary system "may deter a more heavy-handed approach to regulating health IT vendors," wrote the authors. "Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration is a serious possibility on the horizon if improvement in health IT safety and usability is not achieved through a voluntary process."

The reporting would include objective assessments of IT systems run through a "flight simulator"-like battery of test scenarios, data-mining of system-use patterns and more subjective assessments such as third-party-administered users surveys, user-to-public reporting and a more "formalized system of hazard reporting."

"We recommend a single website, hosted by a trusted government entity such as (the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) or a trusted private entity to serve as a hub for comparative user experiences," the report authors said. "This hub could link to the various sources of data regarding comparative user experience, including third-party evaluations from organizations such as ERCI Institute, as well as other resources, such as the American College of Physicians' AmericanEHR Partners. The hub would also link to vendor demonstrations, social media posts and the results of flight simulator lab testing, user surveys, and point-of-use reports."