Combining Ontologies and Cognitive Engineering to Innovate Electronic Health Records

Several challenges exist for implementing electronic health records (EHRs). Tantamount to these challenges are issues surrounding the most effective ways to model medical information and subsequently deliver that information to necessary stakeholders. Therefore, it is important to design and implement EHR systems that are robust in terms of their content and intuitive in terms of their use value. Ontologies can provide robust and intuitive EHR capabilities, since ontological approaches more closely mirror the ordinary ways in which people interact (and problem solve) with the world. In a like manner, cognitive systems engineering - particularly the area of cognitive work analysis (CWA) — offers empirically-based methodologies for better understanding the ways in which people interact with data. By combining ontologies and CWA methodologies in healthcare settings, it is possible to build systems that both model information in correct ways and present it to those that need to utilize it in their day-to-day work environments.