Towards Understanding the Impact of EHR-Related Information Overload on Provider Cognition.

Information overload is a significant problem in the digital age of healthcare and plays key a role in diagnostic errors, near misses, and patient safety, especially in critical care settings. Because of this, we propose a new mixed-methods approach for evaluating EHR-related information overload on clinicians in the ICU. We describe a three-part approach to better understand ICU clinicians' information needs and workflow as they relate to the EHR, and to explore the effects of the EHR on provider workload, performance, and satisfaction. Based on discussions with ICU providers, key areas of information needs have been identified and a preliminary model of EHR workflow has been established.