TARA MIND
EHR User Research
Role: UX Researcher & Designer
Tools: Google Docs • Google Surveys • Figma
Overview
TARA Mind was developing its MVP, Synapse, a coordinated care platform for therapists and prescribers delivering Ketamine-Assisted Therapy. The product needed user research to inform its design. I led in-person research sessions to align the design with real user needs.
Research Goals
Understand therapists' use of electronic health records (EHRs) and their most valued features.
Assess the usability and effectiveness of the clinical intake note.
Outcome
I identified key features therapists rely on, shaping our feature prioritization. Competitor audits highlighted gaps in existing EHRs, reinforcing our approach. Usability testing uncovered pain points in the intake note, leading to design revisions that improved the user experience.
Participant Recruitment
I joined our Clinical team at the American Counseling Association’s annual conference in New Orleans to meet therapists and learn about their thoughts and habits with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). I approached conference attendees, confirmed they were practicing therapists who used EHRs, and invited them to participate in my study in exchange for an Amazon gift card. I sourced 5 participants.
Participant Information
Demographics
5 Therapists age 28-45
Years practicing: 1-14
PAT experience: None
Professional Info
2 Group Practitioners
1 Solo Practitioner
2 Community Health Practitioners
EHRs Used
2 Simple Practice
1 Valant
2 Other (Community Practice)
Methodology
Three-part qualitative in-person interviews at the American Counseling Association’s Annual Conference.
Part I
General Questions about Users’ EHRs
Part II
Feature Ranking & Usage Surveys
Part III
Usability Test on Clinical Intake Note
PART I FINDINGS
EHR Insights
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Participants paid between $60-$120 monthly for their EHR and didn’t feel strongly about the cost. They were interested in a free EHR but needed a trial and more information to consider switching.
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Two out of five participants switched EHRs because they lacked needed features to support their practice. They were willing to pay more for these features and reported the switching process to take ~3 months.
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Participants all spoke to the importance of a mobile app because it allows therapists to be engaged on the go and keep track of notes & scheduling while working remotely.
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The majority of participants considered scheduling to be an important feature because it helps them track appointments, however, they didn’t want patients to have the option to schedule directly with them because of no-shows etc.
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Most participants opt out of certain features in their EHR and turn to outside methods due to convenience, inadequacy of a feature in their EHR, or security needs.
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Security in an EHR was critical to participants who emphasized the need for HIPAA compliance and high-tech encryption. They put security before cost and convenience.
“The mobile app allows for texting via secure messaging, seeing cancellations, checking on the go, and not being tied to the computer” -P5
“I turned off the client messaging feature for clients to book directly because of no-shows and double bookings” -P3
“Free would be amazing, making sure it has HIPAA & high-tech encryption is the most important part” -P2
PART II FINDINGS
Completing & signing notes took priority
Based on my feature ranking and usage surveys, respondents considered the ability to complete and sign notes the most important.
Applying findings into actionable next steps
Reconsider ‘free’ as selling point
Finding:
Participants didn’t feel strongly about the cost of their EHR and it wasn’t a driving factor for switching EHRs.
Recommendation:
Consider deemphasizing “free” as a key selling point in marketing communications.
Prioritize therapist notes feature
Finding:
Completing and e-signing therapist notes was the most important and one of the most frequently used features.
Recommendation:
Focus efforts on optimizing notes for therapists. Audit competitor EHRs to understand conventions of notes.
Enable mobile experience
Finding:
A mobile experience is vital to keeping providers on top of their scheduling and enables them to complete notes on the go.
Recommendation:
Scope out the lift of building a mobile-facing platform for providers (ours was desktop-only). Conduct competitor research on mobile-optimized EHRs.
PART III
Usability Test
I conducted a usability test to understand users’ impressions of Synapse’s Therapist Initial Evaluation note and its ease of completion.
Test Setup
Scenario
You’re a therapist who recently conducted your Therapist Initial Evaluation (TIE) with a new client.
Task
Locate the Therapist Initial Evaluation note, complete it, and submit it for payment.
Positive Feeback
Inviting prompt language
Participants unanimously liked the prompt language and considered the questions comprehensive.
User-friendly form
Participants commented that the form was easy to read and user-friendly.
Patient transparency
Participants liked the feature of sending survey scores to patients at the end of the intake.
Points of Friction
Struggles with findability
“I can’t find it. In Simple Practice, it’s on the patient profile page.” -P5
Desire for selection flexibility
“It would drive me crazy. I would miss one nine times out of ten and it would eat up all of my time” -P2
Confusion with UI elements
“Why are they there if they are not functional?” -P3
Burdensome form length.
“The more I click, the more I wanna know when this is gonna end” -P1
Design Updates
Before
The pre-populated UI on the TIE note confused and distracted users.
After
Created label for “Self-Reported Patient Information” and visually distinguished content.
Before
Users wanted more control in this section, including the option to make multiple selections for each category, to know which question they missed if they forgot to make a selection, and an “all within normal limits” checkbox.
After
Allowed option for multiple selections for each category. Created error message when no selection was made for category. Did not add “all within normal limits” checkbox because clinical team didn’t want users speeding through this section.
Final Thoughts
Getting feedback directly from our users was invaluable. It shed light on flaws within our existing product process where a Google Doc from the Clinical team was passed directly to the Engineering team for development without user input or design. It also showed the need for conducting visual audits of competitor sites to understand conventions and standards and the value of user feedback.