Mapping the Electronic Health Record: A Method to Study Display Fragmentation.

Electronic health records have often been criticized for poor interaction design. One major problem is the 'display fragmentation problem' i.e. the fact that conventional EHRs require the user to view many screens and retain information in memory or external tools rather than being able to view all relevant information together, increasing cognitive load and the possibility of errors and inefficiency. We describe a method for evaluating and depicting the extent of display fragmentation and discuss its potential uses in comparing systems, identifying navigation pathways and information juxtaposition, and improving EHR interaction design.