Electronic Medical Records
& Practice Management System

The Challenge

Our client, a nationally recognized physician in the integrative medicine field, was using complex spreadsheets to manage his growing medical practice and his patients' health records. He recognized that patients needed better methods for healthcare communications and real-time access to their medical information. And healthcare providers needed more office efficiencies and reduced overhead so they could provide the best possible medical care while getting patients in and out of the office on time.

medical spreadhseet

We were asked to transform manual practice management processes into a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform. We were also asked to create a Web-based EMR solution that provided patients with an easy to use portal where they could enter, access, and track their health and medical information and take ownership of the personal actions that lead to better health.

What I Did

I wore many hats on this project, including information architect, UX designer, wireframer, and visual designer. But above all, I was a tireless user advocate, carefully maintainining a balance between including features and interactions that were most desirable from our users' point of view with what was technologically feasible and economically viable.

Patient Portal

I used my extensive problem-solving and creative capabilities to develop wireframe prototypes and detailed visual designs for a large, complex patient portal that encompassed a multi-page questionnaire, an appointment scheduling and reminder engine, a secure message center, and a medication ordering system. Applying fundamental design principles in the areas of UI patterns, typography, layout, hierarchy, color, and composition, I created the "look and feel" of the entire patient-facing EMR system.

Physician Portal

Using a wide variety of UX/UI patterns I designed a physician portal with:

  • One-page patient chart with all vital statistics, test results, and medications
  • Color-coded task lists and reminders
  • A HIPAA-secure patient intake questionnaire
  • Automated appointment scheduling and confirmation
  • Visual logs for quickly reviewing patient history, medications, and lifestyle habits


emr home
EMR: Patient Portal


patient chart
Practice Management: Physician Portal

UX/UI Considerations

Less is More

Because both the patient and the physician portals were content-heavy, the user interface had to be logically structured with the most important information up front, and detailed information and actions secondary. Only the things that users would access most often were emphasized in the UI. This approach enabled me to create a simple up-front impression that didn't overwhelm users with detailed information and interactions that were only occasionally needed.

Usability & Delight

One of my goals was to take the design beyond simple usability to an experience that would both engage and delight users. While making sure that fundamentals such as consistency and ease of use were in place, I also concentrated on making the user interface beautiful and engaging.

emr tests

emr medications