Syllabus

Schedule

Detailed Course Schedule

Week 1

Themes: Human factors, Ergonomics

Readings:

• Pascale, Chapter 1 – Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health Care and Patient Safety
• Pascale, Chapter 2 – Opportunities and Challenges in the Pursuit of Patient Safety

Learning Outcomes:

• Examine the importance of human factors and ergonomics in health care
• Examine the role of health information technology

Overview:

This week you will learn about how human factors and ergonomics play a role in health care and the barriers that these can present when it comes to patient safety. It is important to consider these factors when implementing technology and workflows because the technology is only as effective as the person that is using it. Technology can present another variable in patient care, and if a person is not able to use it correctly to take care of patients it can lead to adverse outcomes.

Week 1 Discussion:

As you read about HFE this week, what surprised you? What topic did you find most interesting; why do you feel that topic is important? What is the role of Health IT when it comes to HFE and patient safety?

Final Project:

The final project for this course is a 5 minute Ignite Presentation. Each week (weeks 2 – 6) you will analyze the technology you have chosen as it relates to that week’s readings. In week 7 you will create your Ignite Presentation based in large part on your analysis from the previous weeks.

Week 1 Assignment:

Pick a technology tool or application that you will use as the basis for your weekly writings and final project. The technology you choose can be one that your are already familiar with, or not. However, choosing one you that you have some familiarity with may make things easier for you. Please submit a paragraph (or two) describing your topic.

Hint: There are some great technology ideas in your textbook.

Week 2

Themes: Magroergonomics

Readings:

• Pascale, Chapter 4 – Opportunities and Challenges in the Pursuit of Patient Safety
• Macroergonomics in Healthcare Quality and Patient Safety

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify technology’s role in macroergonomics and work system design

Overview:

Macroergonomics ensures that sociotechnical factors are taken into account in system design. This can lead to improvements in organization health, safety, effectiveness, and more. This week we will look at this process and what it means for technology and system design and how using the process can lead to safer technology for the patient.

Week 2 Discussion:

What is the purpose of Macroregonomics? What role does it play in improving health care and patient safety? How can Macroergonmics be applied to your current (or future) position?

Assignment:

Apply the theory of Macroergonomics to your chosen technology. In what areas do you think your technology is in line with this theory? In what ways do you think it can be improved and how might someone accomplish that?

Week 3

Themes: Human Error

Readings:

• Pascale, Chapter 6 – Error as Behavior and Murphy’s Law: Implications for Human Factors and Ergonomics
• Pascale, Chapter 22 – Human Error in Health Care
• Pascale, Chapter 23 – Medical Failure Taxonomies

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the cognitive impacts that play a role in a user’s ability to interact with technology

Overview:

We are all human and are prone to human error. This week we will look at the different types of human error that can occur in healthcare and how they are classified. We will consider how people react to different situations. This will help understand error as a behavior and how that can be accounted for in technology design.

Week 3 Discussion:

Looking at the the three approaches to human error described in your text, which perspective do you tend to agree with the most? Why? Think of a situation that has occurred as a result of human error; based on the perspective you chose, why do you think this situation occurred?

Assignment:

Given what you have learned about human error and why it exists, consider how your technology is used and identify potential areas for human error. What processes can be put in place to help reduce the introduction of human error when this technology is used?

Week 4

Themes: Human factors analysis, Usability and Human factors to consider when designing/selecting

Readings:

• Pascale, Chapter 17 – Human Factors and Ergonomics of Health Information Technology Implementation
• Pascale, Chapter 38 – Human Factors Considerations in Health IT Design and Development

Learning Outcomes:

• Identify human factors to consider when designing and implementing new technology

Overview:

This week we will examine the importance of workflow analysis to design and implementation. We will also examine the challenges that we face in Health IT implementation based on the health care environment and the human factors that exist. This will help us to understand how to incorporate human factors into this process and why that is important.

Week 4 Discussion:

This week’s readings included a number of challenges that we face in health IT related to either human factors or the environment. Pick one of those challenges. Why is it a challenge? How can the challenge be overcome? Are there tools that can help overcome it?

Assignment:

Evaluate the technology you have chosen based on the challenges discussed in this week’s readings. What challenges has your technology overcome with its design and what challenges do you think still exist? Based on the design tools and processes that you have learned about, what suggestions do you have for overcoming those remaining challenges?

Week 5

Themes: User experience, Usability

Readings:

• Pascale Chapter 38 – Usability Evaluation in Health Care
• HIMSS EMR Usability Evaluation Guide for Clinicians’ Practices: 9 Essential Principles of EMR Usability
• Human Factors, Usability, and the Electronic Health Record

Learning Outcomes:

• Examine usability methods that can be used to enhance technology usability
• Examine what factors play a role in the user experience

Overview:

This week we will look at usability and the methods that can be used to evaluate usability. We will also look at the factors that make up the user experience, what they mean, and how they should be incorporated. Usability plays a big role in a person’s ability to use technology effectively to take care of patients. Human factors play a role in usability.

Week 5 Discussion:

The user experience plays a critical role in the success of health information technology. Considering the factors that make up the user experience, think of a time that you were interacting with a technology and evaluate your experience. Was your experience a positive one? Why or why not? What factors could you tell were well thought out and what factors could have been improved upon. From a user perspective, why is the user experience so important?

Assignment:

What effect does poor usability have on an organization and what effect does good usability have? Evaluate the technology you have chosen based on the HIMSS EMR Usability Evaluation Guide. Make sure to address all 9 of the essential principles.

Week 6

Themes: Patient Safety, Trust in Health IT

Readings:

• Pascale Chapter 21 – Using Health IT to Improve Health Care and Patient Safety
• Pascale Chapter 19 – Trust In Health Technologies

Learning Outcomes:

• Examine adverse outcomes that can occur when usability and human factors are not considered

Overview:

This week we will look at patient safety as it relates to technology usability, human factors, and ergonomics. We will also consider why a level of trust in health technology is important. If you are not able to use technology to effectively do your job, that can lead to adverse events. You must be able trust that the technology you choose will do the task you want and provide you with accurate information.

Week 6 Discussion:

Research a safety event that occurred as the result of a poor user interface, system design or usability. Describe the factors that contributed to the event and provide ways, based on what you have learned, on how it could have been prevented.

Assignment:

Consider the technology you have chosen. Describe a safety problem that could happen or has happened as a result of not considering user experience, usability, or human factors with that technology. Address topics such as: user adoption, patient safety events, adverse outcomes, loss of productivity. Give examples of tools that might be applied to this technology to help improve these factors.

Week 7

Themes: Human-Computer Interaction Frameworks (HCI)

Readings:

• Pascale Chapter 18 – Human-Computer Interaction Design in Health Care
• Redesign of a computerized clinical reminder for colorectal cancer screening: a human-computer interaction evaluation

Learning Outcomes:

• Analyze the role of human-computer interfaces in human error
• Create an oral presentation to evaluate a technology tool/application

Overview:

This week you will learn about human-computer interfaces in healthcare. You will look at the different types of interfaces and consider interface design principles that should be incorporated in order to reduce human error. You will read a study which demonstrates the usefulness of HCI evaluation when redesigning technology tools.

Week 7 Discussion:

Pick a type of human-computer interface; describe what human errors are typically associated with this interface. Choose at least two design principles that you feel are important to consider with the type of interface you have selected. Talk about why you chose those principles and what benefits their incorporation will have in designing this interface.

Assignment: Final Project

Back in week 1, you chose a technology tool/application to examine in this course. Each week you wrote a short paper analyzing that technology as it related to the weekly topic. For your final project, create an Ignite Presentation based on your analysis from the previous weeks and any appropriate additional information.

An Ignite Presentation is an oral presentation with 20 slides (no more, no less). The total presentation is 5 minutes long: you speak for 15 seconds per slide. For more information on how to create your presentation, please see the description in Blackboard.

Your presentation should include:

Analysis and conclusions from your weekly assignments
What most surprised you about this technology as you examined it throughout the course?
What are the big advantages/disadvantages of this technology?
What is the potential for growth or new areas of development/application for this technology?

Week 8

Learning Outcomes:

• Reflect on challenges encountered while creating a presentation in order to improve future performance

Overview:

This week you will discuss your experiences with creating an Ignite presentation. You will also reflect on the topics that you learned throughout the course, and how you can apply them to your current or future employment.

Week 8 Discussion:

In HIN 740 (the practicum class) you will be doing a live Ignite presentation. The recorded Ignite you did in this current class gave you practice with the format. This discussion is for you to share tips and suggestions for creating an Ignite.

Post the url to your Ignite presentation; please hyperlink the url so that your classmates’ can more easily access the presentation. Then comment on the following: What did you discover about creating an Ignite presentation? What did you find most challenging and how did you address that challenge? Do you have any questions you would like to ask your classmates about strategies they used?

Watch you classmates’ Ignites and read what they have to say about what they discovered while making their Ignite presentations. In your responses, ask your classmates’ questions about their creation process and/or offer tips you discovered that may help them.

Assignment — Reflection:

Write a reflection on what you have taken from this course. What did you learn? What did you find surprising? How can you apply information from this course to your current or future employment? Because our ultimate priorities are to provide safe care to our patients and to improve outcomes, please touch on how considering human factors in system development can help with those priorities.

Student Resources

Online Student Support

Your Student Support Specialist is a resource for you. Please don't hesitate to contact them for assistance, including, but not limited to course planning, current problems or issues in a course, technology concerns, or personal emergencies.

Questions? Visit the Student Support Health Informatics page

APA Style Guide

• https://www.apastyle.org

UNE Libraries:

• Library Access for all students: Your library login ID and password are the same as the ones you use to log into Blackboard/Brightspace.
• MSIN Databases: https://library.une.edu/library-materials/find/research-by-subject/health-informatics/
• Library Tutorial: Find an article
• Library Questions: Ask a librarian or phone library staff at (207) 602-2361 or (207) 221-4330.

UNE Student Academic Success Center

The Student Academic Success Center (SASC) offers a range of services to support your academic achievement, including tutoring, writing support, test prep and studying strategies, learning style consultations, and many online resources. To make an appointment for tutoring, writing support, or a learning specialist consultation, go to une.tutortrac.com. To access our online resources, including links, guides, and video tutorials, please visit:

• UNE Student Academic Success Center

Accommodations

Any student who would like to request, or ask any questions regarding, academic adjustments or accommodations must contact the Student Access Center at (207) 221-4438 or pcstudentaccess@une.edu. Student Access Center staff will evaluate the student's documentation and determine eligibility of accommodation(s) through the Student Access Center registration procedure.

Policies

Technology Requirements

Please review the technical requirements for UNE Online Graduate Programs: Technical Requirements

Turnitin Originality Check and Plagiarism Detection Tool

The College of Professional Studies uses Turnitin to help deter plagiarism and to foster the proper attribution of sources. Turnitin provides comparative reports for submitted assignments that reflect similarities in other written works. This can include, but is not limited to, previously submitted assignments, internet articles, research journals, and academic databases.

Make sure to cite your sources appropriately as well as use your own words in synthesizing information from published literature. Webinars and workshops, included early in your coursework, will help guide best practices in APA citation and academic writing.

You can learn more about Turnitin in the Turnitin Student quick start guide.

Information Technology Services (ITS)

ITS Contact: Toll Free Help Desk 24 hours/7 days per week at 1-877-518-4673

Course Evaluation Policy

Course surveys are one of the most important tools that University of New England uses for evaluating the quality of your education, and for providing meaningful feedback to instructors on their teaching. In order to assure that the feedback is both comprehensive and precise, we need to receive it from each student for each course. Evaluation access is distributed via UNE email at the beginning of the last week of the course.

Attendance Policy

Online students are required to submit a graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET of the first week of the term. If a student does not submit a posting to the graded assignment/discussion prior to Sunday evening at 11:59 pm ET, the student will be automatically dropped from the course for non-participation. Review the full attendance policy.

Late Policy

Assignments: Late assignments will be accepted up to 3 days late; however, there is a 10% grade reduction (from the total points) for the late submission. After three days the assignment will not be accepted.

Discussion posts: If the initial post is submitted late, but still within the discussion board week, there will be a 10% grade reduction from the total discussion grade (e.g., a 3 point discussion will be reduced by 0.3 points). Any posts submitted after the end of the Discussion Board week will not be graded.

Please make every effort ahead of time to contact your instructor and your student support specialist if you are not able to meet an assignment deadline. Arrangements for extenuating circumstances may be considered by faculty.

Student Handbook Online - Policies and Procedures

The policies contained within this document apply to all students in the College of Graduate and Professional Studies. It is each student's responsibility to know the contents of this handbook.

UNE Online Student Handbook

UNE Course Withdrawal

Please contact your student support specialist if you are considering dropping or withdrawing from a course. The last day to drop for 100% tuition refund is the 2nd day of the course. Financial Aid charges may still apply. Students using Financial Aid should contact the Financial Aid Office prior to withdrawing from a course.

Academic Integrity

The University of New England values academic integrity in all aspects of the educational experience. Academic dishonesty in any form undermines this standard and devalues the original contributions of others. It is the responsibility of all members of the University community to actively uphold the integrity of the academy; failure to act, for any reason, is not acceptable. For information about plagiarism and academic misconduct, please visit UNE Plagiarism Policies.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to the following:

1. Cheating, copying, or the offering or receiving of unauthorized assistance or information.
2. Fabrication or falsification of data, results, or sources for papers or reports.
3. Action which destroys or alters the work of another student.
4. Multiple submissions of the same paper or report for assignments in more than one course without permission of each instructor.
5. Plagiarism, the appropriation of records, research, materials, ideas, or the language of other persons or writers and the submission of them as one's own.

Charges of academic dishonesty will be reviewed by the Program Director. Penalties for students found responsible for violations may depend upon the seriousness and circumstances of the violation, the degree of premeditation involved, and/or the student’s previous record of violations.  Appeal of a decision may be made to the Dean whose decision will be final.  Student appeals will take place through the grievance process outlined in the student handbook.