Consistency or efficiency? A dilemma for designers

In this issue of the journal, Russ et al 1 present a discussion of our paper.2 In our study, we found that prescribers were not utilizing all e-prescribing system functions, despite the functions’ potential to improve efficiency of work, and a consequence of this was the generation of clinically unnecessary alerts.2 In their response, ‘When ‘technically preventable’ alerts occur, the design—not the prescriber—has failed,’1 Russ et al suggest that we have diagnosed the problem correctly (a discordance between …