Developed by:

Duane Degler, for
GURU, Inc.
607 Herndon Pkwy
Suite 210
Herndon, VA 20170
(703) 464-0707
info@guruinc.com

IPGems
Barn Cottage, Newtown
Milborne Port, Sherborne
Dorset DT9 5BJ, UK
Tel: +44 (0)7000 782 118
ddegler@ipgems.com

The primary users (hospital registration staff) work in dynamic, highly interrupted environments, often with inarticulate patients (ill, injured, drunk or infirm people), where source documents are rarely available.

There are three primary segments of users:

1. In-hospital junior registrars – these users are often very young (one we met was only 15, working there as an intern), have very few or no computer skills, and also know very little about the medical and insurance language used in Invision and supporting documentation. Registration work using Invision takes up the majority of their time. Turnover is reasonably high (commonly under 2 years), so the vast amount of memorization over the first 6-12 months is rapidly lost.
2. In-hospital senior registrars and managers – these "super-users" have been in the job a long time (typically 7-15 years), and have strong computer skills in relation to the specific applications used (though this does not necessarily translate to more general computer use). Their subject domain knowledge is high, mainly because they’ve "seen it all before," though this sometimes creates problems because they do not have the benefit of updates in their medical knowledge or terminology. These people get the "difficult" cases, and also provide training and peer support to less experienced performers.
3. Satellite office registrars – Hurley runs a number of small clinics and specialized treatment centers throughout the area. Registration is managed by reception staff, who may only perform the registration task a few times a week. They have limited computer experience, and what medical knowledge they have "picked up" informally is usually restricted to the specialist area of the clinic itself.