Redesign and front-end development of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) application for cardiovascular disease

This thesis delves into the redesign and implementation of an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system for patients with cardiovascular disease, which was developed more than 20 years ago and has been in use at the Molinette hospital in Turin. The project was initiated in 2022 from the collaboration between LINKS Foundation research institute and Molinette hospital in Turin. For this case study, a user-centered design approach is employed to identify and address common issues with the current EMR system. The redesign includes improvements to the user interface, streamlined workflow, integration of new technologies, and the addition of new functionalities to the EMR to enhance physician satisfaction and efficiency in a hospital setting. The objective of this thesis is to transform the existing desktop application into a web-based dashboard with enhanced functionalities that cater to the needs and requirements of physicians, In particular, front-end development is the main focus of the work done. To accomplish this, an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) approach is employed to validate and gather feedback on the new web-based application before investing significant resources into its development. By releasing a minimal set of features, we can quickly test assumptions about the product and gather feedback from physicians to improve the product before a full launch. The research process encompasses understanding user needs and pain points, identifying problems, and conducting competitive analysis to understand what other companies are offering in the market and how they compare to our proposed solution. This information will be used to inform the design process and create a more effective solution. Furthermore, during the ideation phase, possible solutions are generated through sketching, brainstorming, and prototyping which is then followed by reconstructing and reorganizing the information architecture to improve the findability and understandability of the digital environment. Finally, the new design is tested and validated. Having completed the design process, it is possible to proceed to the development phase. The EMR system is a constantly evolving application and in the future, it will be integrated with additional functionalities to make it more advanced. The platform is continually refined in response to physicians’ requests. Examples of functionalities that will be designed and developed include generating reports for single visits and Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM), exporting medical data for research purposes, and modifying referral limits for different medical examinations.