Bold

This entry is part 42 of 44 in the series Words

Sometimes usability is just typography. Or perhaps common sense. Look at the following demographic section at the top of a LabCorp lab report. (Yes, I like to name names. It’s OK: truth is an absolute defense against claims of slander.) Imagine you’re working in a very busy ED and the follow-up nurse hands you a […]

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ALLCAPS

This entry is part 16 of 44 in the series Words

I was just a few seconds ago scanning a page of possible tests in the program DocuTAP, a list of about fifty items, to enter an order for an EKG. On the list, everything is in ALL CAPS. Even though I knew the approximate location of what I was looking for, it took me a long […]

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Data Display

This entry is part 12 of 12 in the series Medical Computing

One feature of most tracking systems is data display for an individual patient in the Emergency Department. In most tracking systems, we can double-click on the patient’s name, and then we see a pop-up window, populated with things that the nurses have entered and that are found in the patient’s electronic medical record (EMR) entry: […]

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Information Design

This entry is part 7 of 12 in the series Medical Computing

Wikipedia says: Information Design is the art and science of preparing information so that it can be used by human beings with efficiency and effectiveness. It goes on: the term has come to be used specifically for graphic design that has the purpose of displaying information effectively, rather than just attractively, or for the purpose […]

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