Critical care information display approaches and design frameworks: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review original user evaluations of patient information displays relevant to critical care and understand the impact of design frameworks and information presentation approaches on decision-making, efficiency, workload, and preferences of clinicians. METHODS: We included studies that evaluated information displays designed to support real-time care decisions in critical care or anesthesiology using simulated tasks. We searched PubMed and IEEExplore from 1/1/1990 to 6/30/2018. The search strategy was developed iteratively with calibration against known references. Inclusion screening was completed independently by two authors. Extraction of display features, design processes, and evaluation method was completed by one and verified by a second author. RESULTS: Fifty-six manuscripts evaluating 32 critical care and 22 anesthesia displays were included. Primary outcome metrics included clinician accuracy and efficiency in recognizing, diagnosing, and treating problems. Implementing user-centered design (UCD) processes, especially iterative evaluation and redesign, resulted in positive impact in outcomes such as accuracy and efficiency. Innovative display approaches that led to improved human-system performance in critical care included: (1) improving the integration and organization of information, (2) improving the representation of trend information, and (3) implementing graphical approaches to make relationships between data visible. CONCLUSION: Our review affirms the value of key principles of UCD. Improved information presentation can facilitate faster information interpretation and more accurate diagnoses and treatment. Improvements to information organization and support for rapid interpretation of time-based relationships between related quantitative data is warranted. Designers and developers are encouraged to involve users in formal iterative design and evaluation activities in the design of electronic health records (EHRs), clinical informatics applications, and clinical devices.

Novel displays of patient information in critical care settings: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVE: Clinician information overload is prevalent in critical care settings. Improved visualization of patient information may help clinicians cope with information overload, increase efficiency, and improve quality. We compared the effect of information display interventions with usual care on patient care outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a systematic review including experimental and quasi-experimental studies of information display interventions conducted in critical care and anesthesiology settings. Citations from January 1990 to June 2018 were searched in PubMed and IEEE Xplore. Reviewers worked independently to screen articles, evaluate quality, and abstract primary outcomes and display features. RESULTS: Of 6742 studies identified, 22 studies evaluating 17 information displays met the study inclusion criteria. Information display categories included comprehensive integrated displays (3 displays), multipatient dashboards (7 displays), physiologic and laboratory monitoring (5 displays), and expert systems (2 displays). Significant improvement on primary outcomes over usual care was reported in 12 studies for 9 unique displays. Improvement was found mostly with comprehensive integrated displays (4 of 6 studies) and multipatient dashboards (5 of 7 studies). Only 1 of 5 randomized controlled trials had a positive effect in the primary outcome. CONCLUSION: We found weak evidence suggesting comprehensive integrated displays improve provider efficiency and process outcomes, and multipatient dashboards improve compliance with care protocols and patient outcomes. Randomized controlled trials of physiologic and laboratory monitoring displays did not show improvement in primary outcomes, despite positive results in simulated settings. Important research translation gaps from laboratory to actual critical care settings exist.

Critical care information display approaches and design frameworks: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically review original user evaluations of patient information displays relevant to critical care and understand the impact of design frameworks and information presentation approaches on decision-making, efficiency, workload, and preferences of clinicians. METHODS: We included studies that evaluated information displays designed to support real-time care decisions in critical care or anesthesiology using simulated tasks. We searched PubMed and IEEExplore from 1/1/1990 to 6/30/2018. The search strategy was developed iteratively with calibration against known references. Inclusion screening was completed independently by two authors. Extraction of display features, design processes, and evaluation method was completed by one and verified by a second author. RESULTS: Fifty-six manuscripts evaluating 32 critical care and 22 anesthesia displays were included. Primary outcome metrics included clinician accuracy and efficiency in recognizing, diagnosing, and treating problems. Implementing user-centered design (UCD) processes, especially iterative evaluation and redesign, resulted in positive impact in outcomes such as accuracy and efficiency. Innovative display approaches that led to improved human-system performance in critical care included: (1) improving the integration and organization of information, (2) improving the representation of trend information, and (3) implementing graphical approaches to make relationships between data visible. CONCLUSION: Our review affirms the value of key principles of UCD. Improved information presentation can facilitate faster information interpretation and more accurate diagnoses and treatment. Improvements to information organization and support for rapid interpretation of time-based relationships between related quantitative data is warranted. Designers and developers are encouraged to involve users in formal iterative design and evaluation activities in the design of electronic health records (EHRs), clinical informatics applications, and clinical devices.

Patient information organization in the intensive care setting: expert knowledge elicitation with card sorting methods.

Introduction: Many electronic health records fail to support information uptake because they impose low-level information organization tasks on users. Clinical concept-oriented views have shown information processing improvements, but the specifics of this organization for critical care are unclear. Objective: To determine high-level cognitive processes and patient information organization schema in critical care. Methods: We conducted an open card sort of 29 patient data elements and a modified Delphi card sort of 65 patient data elements. Study participants were 39 clinicians with varied critical care training and experience. We analyzed the open sort with a hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and factor analysis (FA). The Delphi sort was split into three initiating groups that resulted in three unique solutions. We compared results between open sort analyses (HCA and FA), between card sorting exercises (open and Delphi), and across the Delphi solutions. Results: Between the HCA and FA, we observed common constructs including cardiovascular and hemodynamics, infectious disease, medications, neurology, patient overview, respiratory, and vital signs. The more comprehensive Delphi sort solutions also included gastrointestinal, renal, and imaging constructs. Conclusions: We identified primarily system-based groupings (e.g., cardiovascular, respiratory). Source-based (e.g., medications, laboratory) groups became apparent when participants were asked to sort a longer list of concepts. These results suggest a hybrid approach to information organization, which may combine systems, source, or problem-based groupings, best supports clinicians' mental models. These results can contribute to the design of information displays to better support clinicians' access and interpretation of information for critical care decisions.