Actual Healthcare Solutions and HITLAB launch “Project Apollo” — AHS’s ELEMREX™ HIE platform demonstrates “commendable performance” in Heuristic Evaluation.
Actual HealthCare Solutions (AHS) is a promising Health IT startup whose mission is to revolutionize healthcare solutions. AHS is a physician-founded organization that focuses on simulating the needs of real-world medical practices in a digital environment. It provides direct assistance to healthcare providers and patients by using a cloud-based system to manage their scattered personal health information. At the core of their innovations is the ELEMREX™ platform, an AI-driven solution designed to empower physicians to overcome obstacles that hinder patient care by integrating seamlessly into their existing daily workflows. This is demonstrated through ELEMREX™ R, the first product designed by AHS, which is a HIPAA-compliant, cloud-based medical referral platform meticulously designed to remove communication and technical barriers that can delay timely patient referrals and treatment. The goal of ELEMREX™ R is to boost patient acquisition, increase physician revenue, and improve patient outcomes.
ELEMREX™ is a secure, cloud-based platform poised to provide a solution to the HIPAA-compliant health information exchange puzzle. The platform enables patients to obtain, manage, and sign HIPAA release forms and upload all their medical information so it can be found in one, easy-to-access location. They, or their healthcare provider, can also choose to share parts of their personal health information with other physicians or healthcare facilities, without the limitations currently faced when using EMR patient portals. ELEMREX™ offers a first of its kind method for satisfying HHS’ ONC’s final ruling (2019) for all electronic health data exchange to be HIPAA compliant. AHS has integrated a freemium subscription business model with the vision to democratize the availability of health information exchange by liberating digital access to expert medical services, regardless of time, location, or economic resources.
To optimize the usability, effectiveness of outcomes, and economic value of the ELEMREX™ platform, AHS has partnered with HITLAB on Project Apollo, focusing on evidence, customer development, and venture initiatives for AHS. HITLAB’s role involves formulating and executing research project strategies for verification. HITLAB will concentrate on evaluating usability, assessing outcome efficacy, and analyzing the economic value of the ELEMREX™ platform. Working closely with the AHS team, HITLAB will conduct a Beta test of the ELEMREX™ platform, with the objective of providing AHS with essential data and insights to navigate the healthcare landscape effectively.
Furthermore, HITLAB recently conducted a Heuristic Evaluation of the ELEMREX™Platform, focusing on assessing its usability from the perspective of different user personae – a primary care physician, a patient, a specialist (surgeon), and an administrator. The evaluation considered specific use cases of interest to AHS and identified specific problems in the use of the platform for each of the personae. Use cases pertaining to completion of HIPAA forms, patient and physician management, patient-physician interaction, sharing of medical documents, changing a physician, consultation with a specialist, and hospitals as centers of excellence were tested and detailed information on aspects that can be added to improve efficiency for some of the use cases was provided.
In addition, HITLAB’s heuristic evaluation incorporated assessing aspects of interface design, freedom in use, consistency, user-friendliness, error identification and prevention, flexibility, mapping, visibility, effectiveness, and overall user experience. All recommendations made by HITLAB’s experts were studied and incorporated by AHS, and HITLAB re-reviewed the updated ELEMREX™ platform to confirm the suggested changes made by AHS.
Overall, the ELEMREX™ platform demonstrated commendable performance across a comprehensive set of heuristic standards, affirming its role as a cutting-edge solution in the realm of HIE. The platform excelled in providing clear visibility of system status, ensuring users are consistently informed about ongoing processes with appropriate feedback presented within reasonable timeframes. Furthermore, ELEMREX™ seamlessly integrates with users’ mental models, adhering to real-world language, phrases, and conventions. The platform’s commitment to user control and freedom is evident through the provision of a clearly marked “emergency exit” and support for undo and redo functionalities, acknowledging users’ potential mistakes and offering a swift means to rectify them. The platform’s meticulous design includes features for error prevention, prioritizing careful design to eliminate or confirm error-prone conditions before users commit to an action.
ELEMREX™ minimizes users’ memory load by prioritizing recognition over recall and providing ample ease of navigation. In terms of design philosophy, ELEMREX™ embraces an aesthetic and minimalist approach, ensuring that dialogues contain only relevant and necessary information. This design choice enhances the visibility of pertinent information, avoiding unnecessary clutter that may distract users.
Additionally, ELEMREX™ was significantly improved (after HITLAB’s recommendations) for helping users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors, presenting error messages in plain language, precisely indicating problems, and constructively suggesting solutions. The platform acknowledges the potential need for help and documentation and commits to providing easily searchable, task-focused, and concise information to aid users effectively.
ELEMREX™ highly aligns with industry-accepted heuristic standards, affirming its commitment to delivering a user-centric, efficient, and reliable HIE platform. It is poised to play a transformative role in advancing HIE, not only overcoming existing challenges but also potentially setting new standards for usability, effectiveness, and economic value. The collaboration between AHS and HITLAB exemplifies a synergistic effort to harness technology for the betterment of healthcare, paving the way for a future where ELEMREX™ stands as a beacon of innovation and efficiency in the healthcare information landscape.