The proposed research is in direct response to AHRQ PA-20-070.
We aim to support nursing workflow and reduce patient safety hazards associated with electronic medication administration records (eMARs) during pandemics such as COVID-19 by: (1) understanding pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 medication administration workflows through analysis of health information technology and virtual interviews with nurses; and (2) developing and disseminating a medication administration workflow risk assessment tool to healthcare facilities and health information technology test cases to assess eMAR usability and safety. We will develop a broad understanding of medication administration workflow changes and health information technology needs pre COVDI-19 and during COVID-19 by comparing electronic data generated in interactions with medication administration technology these respective time periods. We will then conduct interviews with nurses to validate the medication administration workflows, and generate process maps to compare pre-COVID-19 vs. COVID-19 medication administration workflows with the goal of identifying safety risks. These data will inform the development of the risk assessment tool and usability test cases to be disseminated to healthcare facilities and technology vendors. This project utilizes the extensive expertise of the research team in human factors, health information technology, informatics and data science, and safety science. Our research team includes physicians, nurses, and human factors engineers. The proposal addresses fundamental aspects of the call for proposals by providing new insights on medication administration safety and health information technology to address challenges of pandemics such as COVID-19. Contributions from this research will include a fundamental understanding of the role of health information technology during medication administration with a focus on information flow, design, and development of a risk assessment tool and test cases for healthcare systems and technology vendors to meet the increased risks to patient safety during COVID-19.
This project is relevant to public health because it applies the sciences of human factors and informatics to improve the medication administration process and the usability and safety of the electronic medication administration records (eMARs) in response to challenges from COVID-19. We will analyze nurse medication workflow processes and use of existing health information technology systems, and conduct interviews to identify nurse needs. Based on this knowledge we will develop and disseminate a medication administration risk assessment tool, and usability test case scenarios for healthcare facilities and technology vendors to improve their processes and products.
