UNLEASH THE POWER OF GOLD
By Jerry Goodrich
Siemens OAS Gold® gives you the power to customize your Invision application in ways
never available before. If you simply use “remapped” screens, you are missing
out on powerful tools that can make your application easier to use, safer and more
efficient. By investing in building resources up front in your development phase, you can
save tremendous amounts of time in training users and also increase end user satisfaction.
Screens and pathways that are modeled closely after the users’ workflow and thought
processes will result in faster data entry and higher quality data entry since the screens
“make sense” to the user. If your users look at a screen and don’t know
where to start, it’s time to reassess the design. For example, a well-designed
clinical data entry screen will present the user with only the required information for the
particular order they are entering. If they select a priority of “stat” for a
medication order, the fields for duration and frequency are not appropriate for the order,
so when “stat” is selected, use OAS Gold® commands to make the unnecessary
fields inactive, or better yet, hide them. As a user selects items on a screen that
logically eliminate other fields from being part of the process, again, hide or inactivate
them. This method assists your user in creating almost error free orders that contain
compatible data.
Some advantages of customizing your OAS Gold® pathways:
- You can regain some screen “real estate” since most model screens
have an extra scroll box that is not maximized, causing scrolling and extraneous
borders on the screen. One thing to remember - users hate scrolling, especially if
there isn’t any payback for them because it’s caused by inefficient
screen design. It’s possible to eliminate virtually all scrolling in the
clinical pathways by careful re-expression of the model screens.
- You can have an application that looks like it was custom designed for your
facility by using your facility’s color palette, images, etc.
- Screens can be consolidated for more efficient data entry since much more can be
included on a Gold screen by the use of drop downs, panels and tabs.
- Take control of the header. Make it your own by including what’s important
to your users in the order they want data presented. Be sure to eliminate the
scrolling. Add active buttons within the header. An allergy detail button, for
example, can pop up a panel with allergy details (or any data in the AUDA) without
forcing the user out of the ordering pathway.
Some considerations if you customize:
- Set standards. This will be critical for success in maintaining consistency in
your application. Create a standards document outlining font type and size, colors,
button types and functionality for “selectables”. You should have a person
responsible for final approval of a form based on it adhering to your style standards.
Modify the model color TCL to set your color palette. Then it’s just a matter
of valuing panels and elements with the appropriate percent field. This way the
colors are always consistent. Consistency is a key factor in user satisfaction and
the successful implementation of your application. Determine which type of buttons
will function in what way. Be consistent. Users will expect selectables to act the
same on every screen. Establish your own templates to use as a base to build custom
forms. There are some model forms that are not re-expressed that you will want to
build to keep the look of your pathway consistent. Also build a template for your
header so if you need to add, remove or rearrange it you can simply paste it onto
forms as needed. This will change soon when a new type of form becomes available for
use as a header that is stored as a single form and pulled into the current form
by pre display commands.
- Plan for the future. When you are building a Gold form, take a few extra minutes
to add more lines to the list boxes, you will use them later. If you’re building
something new, like a panel or list to select a physician specialty or hospital
department, make room for expansion later on.
- Use hyperlinks to make your application safer and educational. Link documentation
that users would carry in their pockets or need to reference frequently (ex. dosing
conversions). Also, make links to your policies, procedures and protocol
documentation. The goal is to make the application the source of reference most
readily available to your users. Add links within the application to services your
clinical users need, like Micromedix™ for drug references.
- Add helpful pop-ups activated by selecting a button to display information that
will help users make decisions quickly, like a reference for what the standard
medication administration times are for each nursing unit, or a chart showing tray
delivery times from dietary.
- Create a user field to lock screen items, then, paste that field into selectable
items on your screens (in the field name box in the properties). So, when you need to
lock out that screen element, simply value the field conditionally based on your
criteria in the predisplay commands.
- Use your departmental liaisons to generate creative ways the system can improve
workflow. You’ll be amazed at how imaginative they can be, and it adds value
to the system in tangible savings in labor. Don’t spend time trying to mimic a
bad manual process in your system. Use this as an opportunity to add efficiency.
- Create documentation as you build using screen shots and callouts to illustrate.
These can be combined to give you an “owner’s manual” for the
system, and can individually be used as pop-up tip sheets in your pathways.
- Use predisplay commands to make date sensitive informational pop-ups for new
functions. I’ve placed a panel with a button labeled “New Function,
click here for info” that pops up a tip sheet explaining a new function right
on the detail screen. I wrote predisplay commands that made the button only visible
for 60 days because any newly trained users were shown the function in their class.
If there was still any confusion, the date to hide the button could be modified.
- Involve your users in the basic design stages. It is much better to do that up
front than to work on an expensive rebuild later on. Doing so will also greatly
increase user satisfaction since the users will already have a buy-in to the new
system design.
Remember, Siemens OAS Gold® gives you the power to customize your Invision®
application in ways never available before. Take the time to build new screens that improve
your processes and potentially reduce ordering errors. Unleash the power of Gold –
you won’t be sorry!
Invision® and OAS Gold® are registered trademarks of the Siemens Medical
Solutions Health Services Corporation.