Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40925597›Full record

ArticleJMIR research protocols2025

Investigating Information Visualization to Combat Information Overload in Electronic Health Records: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Saif Khairat, Jennifer Morelli, Marcella H Boynton, Thomas Bice, Jeffrey A Gold, Shannon S Carson

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial Protocol
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR research protocols, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05937646 (Improving Providers' Decision-Making and Reducing Information Overload Using Information Visualization in EHRs), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT05937646 nacompletednot on this map

Improving Providers' Decision-Making and Reducing Information Overload Using Information Visualization in EHRs

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel HillRan2023 to 2025Enrolled113ConditionsElectronic Health Records, Usability, Information Seeking Behavior, Critical CareArmsAWARE, Electronic Health Record (EHR)
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Saif KhairatCarolina Health Informatics Program, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-8992-2946
Jennifer MorelliSchool of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.ORCID 0009-0005-2399-7880
Marcella H BoyntonSchool of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7793-2111
Thomas BiceSchool of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7300-3219
Jeffrey A GoldSchool of Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-6683-9907
Shannon S CarsonSchool of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-6220-7005

Funding

Improving Providers’ Decision-Making and Reducing Information Overload Using Information Visualization in Electronic Health RecordsR01LM013606 · NLM · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI KHAIRAT, SAIF · 2021 to 2024
$1.3M
NLM NIH HHS R01 LM013606
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundElectronic health records (EHRs) have been linked to information overload, which can lead to cognitive fatigue, a precursor to burnout. This can cause health care providers to miss critical information and make clinical errors, leading to delays in care delivery. This challenge is particularly pronounced in medical intensive care units (ICUs), where patients are critically ill and their EHRs contain extensive and complex data.

objectiveWe propose to study the effect of an information visualization dashboard on ICU providers' cognitive fatigue in 4 major US medical centers. In this randomized controlled trial, we will compare 2 leading EHRs with a visualization dashboard-based EHR called AWARE.

methodsThis crossover randomized trial will collect physiological and objective data using a screen-mounted eye-tracking device to assess cognitive fatigue among ICU providers. The study will involve 120 ICU providers from 4 US medical centers, with each site using its institutional EHR as the control and the AWARE EHR as the intervention. Participants will be randomly assigned to use either their institutional EHR or the AWARE EHR first, followed by the other EHR, with the order of EHR use and patient case order randomized by the study team. The AWARE tool is designed to integrate within an existing EHR system and provides clinical support tools, such as the ability to trend data points from body systems at a glance. Data analysis will include eye-tracking metrics, performance measures, and validated surveys to evaluate EHR usability and its impact on clinical decision-making. Primary outcomes include the number of cognitive fatigue instances per patient case, time to complete each case, overall usability of the session, number of mouse clicks per case, provider performance scores from questions asked during each patient case, and perceived usability of each EHR. Secondary outcomes include the number of eye fixations per patient case and perceived workload of each EHR.

resultsThis EHR usability study was funded in 2021 and initiated in 2022, with a completion date of 2025. Data collection began in August 2023. As of now, 3 of the 4 study sites have completed data collection, with a total of 113 completed sessions thus far. Data collection is ongoing at the fourth site. Preliminary analysis is ongoing, and we expect to begin publishing results in late 2025.

conclusionsFindings from this research may inform improvements in EHR interface design and usability, which may enhance provider performance, streamline care delivery, and improve patient safety outcomes.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05937646; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05937646. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/74247.

Indexed as

Data VisualizationElectronic Health RecordsHealth PersonnelCross-Over StudiesHumansIntensive Care UnitsRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicEHR usabilityelectronic health recordseye-trackinginformation overloadinformation visualization, cognitive fatigue

Identifiers

PMID40925597
PMCPMC12457862

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.