# data[].attributes.body
I really feel like I have a much better grasp on what nursing informatics encompasses and how vital it is for the future of both nursing and healthcare in general. It initially was not a very interesting topic for me, but I must say that I understand so much more of how it relates to everything I hope to do in the future. An FNP needs to be a leader and an advocate for change. I am now much more likely to be an active participant in the development and implementation of new technologies, as well as a vocal advocate for the increased standardization, access to, and utilization of healthcare data.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Community hospital resilience: Lessons learned from an EHR implementation amid the pandemic

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
1.3 Exploratory, Descriptive and Explanatory Nature Of Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
1.3 Exploratory, Descriptive and Explanatory Nature Of Research

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
How Telehealth and the associated technology can provide services to  sexual assault victims.

# data[].attributes.headline
Alert Fatigue - Who doesn't hear the alarms???

# data[].attributes.subject
Alert Fatigue - Who doesn't hear the alarms???

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Two Minutes: What's the Risk? Alert Fatigue

# data[].attributes.headline
Examples of beautiful data visualization...

# data[].attributes.subject
Examples of beautiful data visualization...

# data[].attributes.body
Data visualization can make an incredible impact on people. These are gorgeous!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Data. We create a lot of it. While exact figures vary, it's estimated that we produced a staggering 59 zettabytes of data in 2020 alone.

With so much information flying around, it's not surprising that data analytics has become such an indispensable area of expertise. As businesses, governments and other organizations make their way in the world, drive innovation and seek to maintain a competitive edge, data analytics is invaluable.

And a key part of this is data visualization. Representing data graphically allows us to spot new insights, carry out high-level analyses and communicate our findings in a clear, concise way. It's a bit of an art form, too!

If you're new to data visualization, check out the basic different data viz types. In this post, though, we're going to indulge in a few aesthetic delights with some of our favorite data viz examples.

Let's start with a (relatively) simple one...

1. Visualizing a zettabyte

As mentioned, humans created approximately 59 zettabytes of data in 2020. Considering we only reached one zettabyte in the mid-2010s, this is an incredible amount. As the world becomes more digitally connected, our rate of data production will only increase.

While 59 zettabytes are too vast for our puny human brains to comprehend, what about a single zettabyte? Can we picture that? One zettabyte is equivalent to a sextillion bytes. Any clearer? Thought not.

Luckily, before the dawn of the so-called 'Zettabyte Era', global IT company Cisco had a go at visualizing this for us.

Source: The Guardian / Cisco

This visualization definitely makes it easier to understand exactly how monumentally huge a zettabyte of data is. That's the power of data visualization. Picture that zettabyte 59 times and you'll have a rough idea of how much data we created in 2020!

2. Network graph of character interactions in the Star Wars franchise

As the amount of data we produce grows, ever-more-complex visualization techniques are required to make sense of it. One increasingly popular form of data viz is the network graph. This allows us to plot the relationship between many different points, or nodes.

Network graphs are excellent for visualizing connections or groups that emerge from big data. Illustrating this concept beautifully is this stunning visualization by data artist, science communicator, and researcher, Kirell Benzi.

Source: Kirill Benzi

This eye-catching network graph is more than just a pretty image. It tracks the connections between the 20,000-plus characters that exist in the Star Wars universe. Each character is represented by a single node. And each of these nodes is connected by a color-coded line (or 'edge') to related nodes.

Red represents the dark side of the force; blue represents the light side; yellow shows criminals and bounty hunters. With over 66,000 connections in total, this shows exactly how powerful (and beautiful) a network graph can be.

3. Heat mapping the potential spread of the Covid-19

As smartphones track our movements, location-tagged data is fast becoming a common phenomenon. This has proven especially important during the Covid-19 pandemic, as countries scramble to track and trace potential chains of infection. For location data like this, maps are a vital tool. In this example, data viz software provider Tectonix shows us the full potential of location-specific data mapping.

Source: YouTube / Tectonix GEO

This visualization shows anonymized phone data collected in Florida during spring break 2020. Each phone is represented by a single red node. The mist of red tells us that there were a lot of people enjoying spring break. The area highlighted in blue is a single beach in Fort Lauderdale.

Source: New York Times / Tectonix GEO

Tracking each node from this beach, Tectonix shows exactly where individuals traveled at the end of spring break. As a result, we can easily see how far and wide individuals from a single beach may have spread Covid-19.

While this visualization is in equal measures terrifying and beautiful, it's an excellent example of how we can visualize big data over large geographical areas. To see the full visualization, check out Tectonix's YouTube channel.

4. 3D mapping of population density

Another common type of map is the 3D map. While some visualizations use 3D elements to add a little flair, the best ones utilize that third dimension to the fullest. This is perfectly illustrated in this visualization by Alasdair Rae, founder of Automatic Knowledge Ltd, a UK-based data analytics company.

Source: Alisdair Rae / statsmapsnpix.com

Using the EU's freely available GHS_POP data, these images show population density across Europe. The map is broken down into 1km x 1km squares, with bar heights representing the number of people living in each area. As well as offering a striking render, we can see at a glance where the most densely populated regions are. For instance, Paris, London, Madrid, and Rome all leap out.

An important thing to note about this map is how functional it is. The 3D rendering is pleasing to look at, but these elements serve more than just an aesthetic purpose-they tell us something useful. This is a core principle of data visualization: substance should always come before style.

5. Popular programming languages on the CRAN network

It wouldn't feel right to do a post about data visualization without some data analytics related themes! With this in mind, our next visualization-a combination of a bubble chart and circular network graph-shows the use of popular programming languages in 300 packages on the Comprehensive R Archive Network (CRAN).

Source: Dr Torsten Sprenger / GitHub

Sourcing data from the TIOBE index (which measures the popularity of programming languages) this visualization shows which CRAN packages were created using which languages. R comes top, followed by C and C++. Less popular languages are represented by smaller circles. The size of each circle is proportional to the number of lines of code used to produce the packages.

If you want to play around with this chart, its creator Dr Torsten Sprenger has shared the data and code on his GitHub profile ...go wild!

6. Line graph of global surface temperature

Good data visualization needn't be flashy. In fact, it's often better when it's not. If data might be used to aid things like government policy or decision making, clarity is vital. And line graphs are an excellent tool for plotting time-series data clearly and simply.

Source: UNEP GRID

This line graph tracks global surface temperatures from 1880 to the late 2010s. Crucially, it includes data from four different sources: NASA, NOAA, the Japanese Meteorological Agency, and the MetOffice. By overlaying these four sources of data, we can immediately see how closely correlated they are. They show an almost identical rise in global surface temperatures over the last 200 years.

While the content of this graph should not be news to anyone by now, it is still an excellent example of how even simple data visualizations can draw powerful conclusions. Presented this way, it is very hard to deny these data.

7. Interactive bubble chart of good government

Visualizations should never be interactive for the sake of it. However, interactivity can also transform the way we see data. Gov | DNA is an award-winning interactive online web tool that explores the factors that contribute to good (and bad) government in countries all around the world.

Source: Werner Helmich

Representing each nation as a bubble, the tool lets you compare different countries at the click of a button. For instance, you can track each country's world happiness score against variables like employment, life expectancy, press freedom, and corruption. To get the full, immersive experience, we highly recommend checking out the interactive tool for this one. If you're anything like us, you'll lose hours on it!

8. Streamgraph of immigration to the US

Streamgraphs are a type of area chart often used to compare time-series data. While not always suitable for an in-depth analysis, they are great for providing a broad overview. They're also visually compelling, especially when they're interactive.

Source: Talia Bronshtein / insightfulinteraction.com

This beautiful streamgraph, created by data journalist Talia Bronshtein, plots the nationality of different immigrants to the United States over 200 years (1820 to 2015). And its findings jump right out. For instance, we can immediately see that during the wartime period (1939-1945) immigration to the US almost stopped.

We can also see that while most immigrants before WW2 came from countries like Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Russia; by the late 2000s, the bulk of immigration was coming from Asian and South American countries.

Streamgraphs are excellent for spotting patterns quickly and easily. Be sure to check out the full interactive version of this one on Talia's website.

9. Sculptural heat map of Chile's 2010 earthquake

Data visualization isn't just for data analytics. As we've said, it can be an art form. And we weren't speaking metaphorically!

In 2010, the artist Janet Echelman was commissioned to create a sculpture representing the interconnectedness of the 35 nations of the Western Hemisphere. That year, there had been a huge earthquake in Chile. The event was so seismic that it created a huge tsunami and shortened the Earth's day by 1.26 microseconds.

Source: NOAA / PMEL / Center for Tsunami Research

This image shows a heatmap of the tsunami caused by the earthquake, as modeled by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Echelman took this and used it as inspiration for her sculpture, which she constructed out of different colored rope suspended from a lightweight frame.

Source: Janet Echelman

The subsequent sculpture, named 1.26, is both a triumph of artistic achievement and a stunning data visualization. It's also evidence that data viz-and by extension, data analytics-can be just as creative as any artistic field. So if anybody ever suggests otherwise, you know where to point them!

Final thoughts

In this post, we've offered a few samples of how informative, beautiful, and diverse data visualization can be. If we've whetted your appetite for more, we recommend checking out videos of the late Hans Rosling, an unrivaled leader in the field of data viz. While we didn't include his work on our list, he is worthy of an honorable mention. Like the visualizations in our post, his work is truly inspiring. And, if you're new to the field, check out our complete introduction to data visualization.

If you'd like to take things further, why not practice creating your own data visualization using one of these tools? You can start by creating a simple histogram in Excel; just follow this step-by-step guide. To learn more about data analytics in general, try our free, five-day data analytics short course, or read about some more data analytics topics:

This article is part of:

Contributor to the CareerFoundry blog

A British-born writer based in Berlin, Will has spent the last 10 years writing about education and technology, and the intersection between the two. He has a borderline fanatical interest in STEM, and has been published in TES, the Daily Telegraph, SecEd magazine and more. His fiction has been short- and longlisted for over a dozen awards.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
9 Beautiful Data Visualization Examples in 2021

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Data. We create a lot of it. While exact figures vary, it's estimated that we produced a staggering 59 zettabytes of data in 2020 alone. With so much information flying around, it's not surprising that data analytics has become such an indispensable area of expertise.

# data[].attributes.body
This is the link I used to explain how data visualization can be used to develop healthcare policy. We started to see this method used during the pandemic and, and now to monitor and compare vaccine rates.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Data are reported based on the date IDPH receives vaccination reports from providers. Providers are to report as soon as practicable, but reporting can be delayed as much as 72 hours, which can lead to a lag between vaccines delivered to Illinois and vaccines administered.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Data are reported based on the date IDPH receives vaccination reports from providers. Providers are to report as soon as practicable, but reporting can be delayed as much as 72 hours, which can lead to a lag between vaccines delivered to Illinois and

# data[].attributes.body
Weekly objectives:
- Compare exploratory vs. explanatory analysis.

- Discuss fundamentals of data analysis.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The HIPAA Omnibus Rules for the Healthcare Workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The HIPAA Omnibus Rules for the Healthcare Workplace

# data[].attributes.headline
How SANE nurses are able to provide continuity of care across state lines - podcast

# data[].attributes.subject
How SANE nurses are able to provide continuity of care across state lines - podcast

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This episode contains content that may be alarming to some listeners including descriptions of sexual assault and traumatic events. Listener discretion is advised
Continuing our special series highlighting access to care, this episode features conversations with sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) across the country about new national standards under development to improve care for victims. This summer the National Institute for Standards and Technology launched the effort with support from the Department of Justice and the International Association of Forensic Nurses. We will learn from nurses how important this initiative is to advance and sustain care for victims of sexual assault.
We start with Vikki Vodosia, a SANE at Children's Hospital Intervention and Prevention Services in Birmingham, Alabama. Vikki explains how rape kits can be different from state to state and what that means for survivor care, evidence collection, and more.
Caitlin Yerkes is a Forensic Nurse Examiner in Virginia and a telecine expert consultant at Penn State's SAFE-T Center. SAFE-T stands for Sexual Assault Forensic Examination - Telehealth. This initiative pairs more experienced SANEs with less experienced providers to team up on exams using telehealth, including across state lines. Caitlin virtually supports Pennsylvania-based providers from her home outside Washington, D.C.
Later, we'll hear from SANE Kayce Ward, a Forensic Nurse Program Manager at the Center of Excellence in Forensic Nursing College of Nursing at Texas A&M University and of the Texas Teleforensic Remote Assistance Center (Tex-TRAC). Kayce shares how rape kits have been standardized across Texas in recent years and how this has improved care for survivors
This episode builds from a previous episode where we highlighted Penn-State's SAFE-T Center's innovative program to close a gap in services offering telehealth support medical practices in rural and underserved areas. We encourage you to learn more about their work on our feature here: https://www.paactioncoalition.org/about/podcast/item/524-episode-1.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
sexual assault nurse examiners: support and standards across state lines

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
‎At the Core of Care: Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners: Support and Standards Across State Lines on Apple Podcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
‎This episode contains content that may be alarming to some listeners including descriptions of sexual assault and traumatic events. Listener discretion is advised Continuing our special series highlighting access to care, this episode features conversations with sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs...

# data[].attributes.headline
WEEK 10 - Quality and Unintended Consequences

# data[].attributes.subject
WEEK 10 - Quality and Unintended Consequences

# data[].attributes.body
- Describe how informatics can improve quality of healthcare.
- Identify ways an EHR can help report quality indicators.
- Identify key elements to determine quality data.
- Evaluate data sets for quality.

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 9 - Mobile and Consumer Informatics

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 9 - Mobile and Consumer Informatics

# data[].attributes.body
- Discuss current consumer technologies.
- Describe how gamification can help consumer improve health.
- Describe a potential future innovation for healthcare.
- Identify innovations that have been successful.

# data[].attributes.body
- Identify successful telehealth applications.
- Describe types of telehealth.

Am I the only one who loved telehealth visits during Covid lockdown? I was honestly disgruntled when I had to go back to in-person appointments. Now, not everything is appropriate for telehealth. But for me, they were so convenient! It's definitely something that I may like to pursue, but am concerned regarding liability. As a provider, how are you able to assess a patient that you can't physically touch? How can you be certain of your diagnosis when you're basically going by what they tell you... I would like to learn more about how to ensure my patients are safe, and I don't get sued...

# data[].attributes.headline
Telehealth used to help victims of sexual assault.

# data[].attributes.subject
Telehealth used to help victims of sexual assault.

# data[].attributes.body
THIS! Bringing access to services otherwise unavailable!!!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
No matter where victims of sexual assault live, they should be able to access expert care. And no matter where nurses work, they should have the support of a network of experts when dealing with sexual assault cases. Having a forensic exam performed with expert nursing assistance via telehealth can be the first step toward healing, providing patients with a safe, supported environment.

"Every nurse deserves peer support and every victim deserves expert care-no matter where you live."

Sheridan Miyamoto, Director, Penn State Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) Center

The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth Center (SAFE-T Center) was launched with support from the Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime as a solution to enhance access to high quality sexual assault care in underserved communities. When a sexual assault examination is performed at one of our partner hospitals, one of SAFE-T Center's expert nurses participates through telehealth. The expert nurse appears on a screen where she can talk to, and support, both the on-site nurse and the patient. Through our specialized digital telehealth technology, she can also see the live exam in progress, ensuring best practices, proper evidence collection and a safe, helpful environment for the patient.

Kristina Rose
Director, U.S. Department of Justice, Office for Victims of Crime

Rural Nurses

With SAFE-T Center, you have access to an expert nurse when you need it most: as you are performing examinations. The SAFE-T Center nurses help by enhancing your own expertise, ensuring that you do not have to do this difficult work in isolation.

Policy Makers

Research has shown that people living in rural areas experience significant health disparities, including quality sexual assault care. By providing expertise through telehealth, SAFE-T Center helps address these disparities for victims of sexual assault. We help local forensic nurses with real-time support, quality assurance, and peer review throughout the exam-a proven gold standard of care.

Hospital Administrators

Sexual assault examinations can be technically and emotionally difficult, and staff performing these exams may be difficult to retain. SAFE-T Center helps administrators train and retain talented nurses by offering quality assurance, peer support, mentorship, and on-demand training. We can help your nurses do a better job and feel confident in their work.

District Attorneys and Law Enforcement

SAFE-T Center strengthens forensic evidence collection and documentation by ensuring that best practices are used; best practices are supported through ongoing feedback, training, and quality assurance of peer review of examinations. The SAFE-T Center helps to develop competent and confident nurse examiners who can provide accurate testimony when needed.

Rural and underserved communities often struggle to support specialized medical practices such as forensic exams. With the support of SAFE-T Center, each of our partner sites has access to experienced professionals for telehealth support during forensic exams, training for nurses and health care professionals, and community education.

Sheridan Miyamoto, PhD, FNP, RN
Principal Investigator
Director

Cynthia Bittner, RN, BS
Project Director
Clinical & Administration

Katherine Veerhusen, DNP, MEd, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P
Clinical Education & Advanced Practice Coordinator

Regina Lozinski, MSResearch Project Manager

Marsha M. Freije, MSN
Project Manager

Jonathan Essick, BS
Telehealth IT Manager

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Enhancing care for sexual assault victims in underserved communities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
No matter where victims of sexual assault live, they should be able to access expert care. And no matter where nurses work, they should have the support of a network of experts when dealing with sexual assault cases.

# data[].attributes.body
HIT and EBP - EndoTool decreases hypoglycemic events and insulin dosing errors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Evaluating the Implementation of the EndoTool Glycemic Control Software System

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to compare achievement of glycemic control on insulin drips before and after the implementation of EndoTool, a glucose management software system used in a community hospital setting. Methods. A retrospective chart review was performed of patients on an insuli…

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 6 - An example of the algorithm and equation (with multiplier) I use to calculate an insulin drip rate... 

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 6 - An example of the algorithm and equation (with multiplier) I use to calculate an insulin drip rate... 

# data[].attributes.body
Why are data sets so hard to find? And why are they so hard to extrapolate the data from? It's almost like they're keeping them a secret from people that aren't smart. They're not presented in a way that makes them easy to read or understand. And sometimes you have to have a login and a password, or create an account. This limits access to that information, and further creates a divide between members of society. Maybe it's just me, but this week's asynchronous assignment showed me just how difficult finding and accessing a data set was.

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 6 - Electronic Health Records and Clinical Decision Support

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 6 - Electronic Health Records and Clinical Decision Support

# data[].attributes.body
Objectives:
- Identify key components of electronic health records (EHRs)
- Describe issues with accessibility with EHRs
- Discuss clinical decision support tools
- Describe how clinical decision support can support patient safety and outcomes

The above is hands down a benefit of EHRs! One way this impacts me as an ER nurse is when treating DKA. In the past, I have worked at facilities that use EndoTool, a computerized program that determines insulin infusion rates based on an algorithm, which is calculated for you and can be integrated into the EMR. I currently work at a facility that utilizes a paper form with a multiplier, and it requires the critical care nurse to manually determine the infusion rate. Both required another nurse to sign off and verify dosing, but the paper form I currently have to use is complicated, wordy, and not straightforward. Utilizing EndoTool or another computerized program is so much more user-friendly and has proven to achieve optimal glucose levels for DKA patients with less hypoglycemic events compared to other methods!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The EndoTool® Glucose Management System is a precision and predictive electronic dosing platform that provides safe and individualized inpatient insulin dosing recommendations through its two applications, EndoTool IV and EndoTool SubQ.

# data[].attributes.body
Objectives:
- Describe the 4 buckets of Meaningful Use
- Indicate the influences of EHR adoption

I think a lot comes down to cost and operability. If the cost is justified, a healthcare system will spend the money. With systems growing larger and encompassing more facilities under their shared name, it makes sense to invest. But that leaves out the little guys. What is their incentive? It's why I'm still charting in MediTech Expanse LOL...

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 4 - Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 4 - Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom

# data[].attributes.body
Key takeaways for me involved the DIKW hierarchy. This makes sense to me, as data is meaningless unless it can be stored, categorized, and retrieved in a useful way. What does a number represent? It needs to be used in context to something else. This is fundamental, and why it's so important for standardization practices.
Another point that I connected with was the huge influx of data being given to providers. For many, it could be information overload. So how do we prevent this from happening and make the available data only that which is useable and meaningful?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A new op-ed published in the Journal of the American Medical Association offers some suggestions for a " shared responsibility" for electronic health record safety.

WHY IT MATTERS
This past month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services updated its Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program - adding a new measure requiring eligible hospitals, starting in 2022, to attest to having completed an annual self-assessment of their EHRs using the SAFER Guides sponsored by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.

While that's a big deal for patient safety policy, however, "additional steps are required to strengthen the effects of these rules," write patient safety researchers Dean F. Sittig of University of Texas Health Science Center and Dr. Hardeep Singh of Baylor College of Medicine, in JAMA.

Going forward, as hospitals work to comply with the new CMS rules, they'll need to have help from their EHR vendors, they write, since many SAFER recommendations depend on EHR features that must be provided by developers.

"For example, one recommendation states, 'Information required to accurately identify the patient is clearly displayed on all portions of the EHR user interface, wristbands, and printouts,'" they point out. "The hospital cannot comply with that recommendation if the developer has not implemented the feature(s)."

Toward a goal of "share responsibility," then, Sittig and Singh because many additional strategies are needed to complement CMS's new rules.

EHR developers should self-assess their IT products each year for safety.

ONC should perform yearly reviews of SAFER recommendations.

Vendors should offer clear guidance on how they address safety practices.

CMS should add annual SAFER assessment by EHR developers to Promoting Interoperability program criteria, they argue - helping ensure that they've evaluated their product against SAFER recommendations and shown how the systems can be configured to meet them.

"In addition, EHR developers should make product default settings conform to SAFER recommendations," they write, with the ONC authorized certification body responsible for overseeing each EHR developer also responsible for assessing compliance.

"The annual EHR developer assessment process should be transparent and carried out by teams consisting of EHR designers, developers, implementers and trainers," write Sittig and Singh.

"For each SAFER recommendation, the developer should indicate whether it requires specific technical features and if so, note whether their product is capable of meeting requirements," they explain. "For additional transparency, EHR developers should document a rationale for recommendations their product cannot support, post it on their website, and send copies to their customers and the ONC-ACB.

"The rationale should explain developers' decision-making and consider safety implications from this nonconformity. These findings should also be reported to and reviewed by the ONC-ACBs as part of the EHR developers' certification process."

As for ONC itself, it should convene expert panels each year - clinical end-users, researchers and developers - to review the findings from developer nonconformity reports, they said, and make revisions to the SAFER Guides accordingly. Panelists should review each recommendation annually - modifying or eliminating measures as appropriate to "keep up with changes in EHR design, development, configuration or use."

Meanwhile, "EHR developers are in a perfect position to be a conduit for collecting, implementing, and diffusing safety practices," given their work with healthcare organizations of different shapes and sizes, said Sittig and Singh. For that reason, they should develop configuration guides for their own EHRs, and share them with providers to help ensure the SAFER guidelines.

THE LARGER TREND
CMS new rules around the SAFER Guides - it stands for Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience - come amid an array of updates to the Promoting Interoperability Program, formerly known as meaningful use.

As Sittig and Singh explain, the new rule will help hospitals more "proactively assess" their EHRs for patient safety and help "minimize EHR-related safety risks and hazards and to increase EHR resilience."

The SAFER Guides were first published in 2014 and have been updated in the years since. Their recommended sets of best practices are valuable tools to help hospitals optimize EHRs and clinical workflows for patient safety.

But so far, "adoption of the SAFER Guides so far has been sporadic and minimal," the authors write.

This is despite the fact that "over the past decade, emerging evidence has suggested that unsafe EHRs and unsafe use of EHRs has continued and could lead to harm or potential harm that potentially affects large numbers of patients."

They note one study, for instance, that showed "275 of 697 (39.5%) EHR-related products surveilled had 'nonconformities' with existing EHR certification regulations that were associated with possible patient harm. Many nonconformities could have been identified by the developer prior to product release."

ON THE RECORD
"EHR developers must create or modify their products to ensure that hospitals can configure their EHR to meet SAFER Guide recommendations," write Sittig and Singh in JAMA.

"The new CMS policy requiring hospitals to perform annual self-assessment using the SAFER Guides creates a solid foundation for a much-needed focus on EHR-related patient safety. However, the responsibility for safety must be shared with EHR developers, who should also self-assess their products on an annual basis."
Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN
Email the writer:mike.miliard@himssmedia.com
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
JAMA report calls on EHR vendors to do annual safety self-assessments

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A new op-ed published in the Journal of the American Medical Association offers some suggestions for a " shared responsibility" for electronic health record safety.

# data[].attributes.body
The reading this week allowed me to further explore what I've known from prior experience: change is hard. Few embrace it, and those who resist it are many. This could be something like a hospital moving from paper charting to computerized charting, or even the addition of new features within an already established EHR.

EPIC is great, but one thing that can be seen as both a positive and a negative is that there are so many ways to accomplish one task. For example, there might be 3 or 4 different ways to print a patient visit summary. For some, this just adds to the confusion and inhibits their confidence in adaptin to the new system. Especially if they are moving from a simpler, more limited system like MediTech.

But interoperability is so important for continuity of care. I've had many patients tell me they have no medical problems, but because I can pull their medication list from pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS, I can see their list of prescriptions. This allows me to ask about medical conditions they may not otherwise mention.

# data[].attributes.headline
Health Information Systems and their components in 90 Seconds

# data[].attributes.subject
Health Information Systems and their components in 90 Seconds

# data[].attributes.body
This really breaks it down into simple parts, and I'm a visual learner so this was very helpful!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Standards and Interoperability Lab - Asia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Health Information Systems in 90 seconds

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Healthcare I.T. Operations Overview - Day to Day

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The HITECH Act: Electronic Health Records and Meaningful Use

# data[].attributes.headline
Week 2 - Informatics Competencies / TIGER 

# data[].attributes.subject
Week 2 - Informatics Competencies / TIGER 

# data[].attributes.body
Informatics competencies are crucial for the growth and development of nurses as a whole.  I appreciate how QSEN divided its competencies into 3 categories: knowledge, skills, an attitudes. A breakdown in any of these areas can make a project unsuccessful, so I feel like it's so relevant! TheTIGER Initiative video was confusing to me... I don't feel like it had a clear goal defined and it left me feeling like I didn't know anything about informatics.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
IT and Nursing Informatics Competencies- What Nurses Need and Ways to Achieve Them.

# data[].attributes.body
When thinking about the topic of health informatics, I can't help but think about how broad it really is! I know that raw data about our patients is collected electronically, but what good is that raw data if it cannot be entered, organized, saved, and retrieved in a meaningful or useful way. Before I was a nurse, I obtained a Bachelor's degree in computer science. Binary, which is the basis for all computer code, is meaningless without a way to interpret and understand it. It's just numbers. I've always been interested in health informatics, but still think about it like I did computer science - I don't see how to pursue it without giving up time spent on direct patient care, which I love. Hopefully, this course will allow me to understand how these two can coexist.