Using Clinical Simulations to Train Healthcare Professionals to Use Electronic Health Records: A Literature Review.

Unintended consequences are adverse events directly related to information technology and may result from inappropriate use of electronic health records by healthcare professionals. Electronic health record competency training has historically used didactic lectures with hands-on experience in a live classroom, and this method fails to teach learners proficiency because the sociotechnical factors that are present in real-world settings are excluded. Additionally, on-the-job training to gain competency can impair patient safety because it distracts clinicians from patient care activities. Clinical simulation-based electronic health record training allows learners to acquire technical and nontechnical skills in a safe environment that will not compromise patient safety. The purpose of this literature review was to summarize the current state-of-the-science on the use of clinical simulations to train healthcare professionals to use electronic health records. The benefits of using simulation-based training that incorporates an organization's contextual factors include improvement of interdisciplinary team communication, clinical performance, clinician-patient-technology communication skills, and recognition of patient safety issues. Design considerations for electronic health record training using clinical simulations involve establishing course objectives, identifying outcome measures, establishing content requirements of both the clinical simulation and electronic health record, and providing adequate debriefing.