Health Care(fully)
It’s been quite a while since my last post and a lot has happened during that time. Unfortunately, not much of it has been related to a general, world-wide increase in usability.
I finally moved away from iPower, my previous hosting provider, and over to GoDaddy. This move was due largely in part to the usability of their new hosting platform (or rather, the lack of). Combined with increasingly poor customer service, it was an easy decision. Oh, and when they moved me to the new platform, they botched all the file permissions, didn’t copy hidden files and didn’t copy the admin interface folder for WordPress… which makes it difficult to post!
Back to business.
This past Tuesday morning, I was visiting the Kaiser Permanente office here in Mountain View. While waiting for my physician, I used the iPhone to snap a few shots.
Oops, wrong one.
Have a look at the login screeen for Epic’s “Hyperspace”, taken from the terminal Kaiser has in each patient room:
If there’s a screen I’d like to be simple for my practitioner to use, it would be the login screen.
- Centered, giant, red letters to indicate a safe state?
- “Spring 2007 iU1″ - I would guess this is the release/version of the software. Seems like something my physician or her assistant would like to know while logging in.
- Why an “Exit” button on this screen? Windows users are certainly aware of the the ‘X’ to close a window, especially physicians - this ain’t their first rodeo.
- A checkbox for “Change Password”. Rather than a button or a link (which I would actually like to see here), a checkbox. Does it mean that I enter a new password instead of my current password? Will I be taken to a separate screen? Do I have to enter my username first?
- That background and those graphics might look great as the default desktop for Apple’s Leopard OS, but are entirely out of place in a business setting especially in a health care environment where speed and efficiency are of the utmost importance. Any distractions (like a flashy, garish background image) should be cut.
This is only the login screen… Next time I’m at Kaiser, I’ll see if I can finagle a peek at my patient record when the system is online.
Hopefully not too soon :)