How IQHT Builds Features That Clinicians Actually Want to Use

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The Problem with Healthcare Technology

At the last BOPA (British Oncology Pharmacy Association) conference, our Head of Product, Bastiaan Buijtenhuijs, shared a finding that might sound obvious but is often overlooked in healthcare technology: new technology needs to be useful.

It sounds simple, doesn't it? Yet across the NHS and healthcare sector globally, we see countless examples of technology that clinicians struggle to adopt, not because it lacks sophisticated features, but because it wasn't designed with real users in mind.

At IQHT, we take a different approach. We don't just build features and hope clinicians will use them. We design WITH our users, not FOR them.

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What is User-Centric Design?

User-centric design is a development approach that places the end user at the heart of every decision. For us, that means oncology pharmacists, prescribers, nurses, and the entire multidisciplinary team involved in systemic anti-cancer therapy (SACT) prescribing.

Before we write a single line of code, we ask:

• What challenges do you face in your daily workflow?

• What would make SACT prescribing safer and more efficient?

• How do you actually work, not how we think you work?

This isn't a one-off consultation. It's an ongoing partnership that shapes every feature we develop.

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Design Verification: Proving Features Meet Real Needs

Design verification is the process of confirming that our proposed solution actually meets real user needs. At IQHT, this involves mixed-methods research including:

• User interviews - One-on-one conversations with oncology pharmacists and prescribers about their workflows, pain points, and priorities

• Surveys - Gathering quantitative feedback from a broader user base to validate design decisions

• Workshops - Collaborative sessions where users can interact with prototypes and provide hands-on feedback

• Usability testing - Observing real users as they navigate features to identify friction points before launch

This rigorous approach ensures that when we release a new feature, it's not based on assumptions; it's validated by the people who will use it every day.

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How We're Applying This to AI Clinical Decision Support

Our latest focus is integrating AI-driven Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) into iQemo. This is cutting-edge technology, but without user-centric design, even the most sophisticated AI can fail to deliver value.

Here's how we're approaching it:

1.Understanding the Clinical Context  

We're not just building AI that flags drug interactions. We're working with oncology teams to understand when, where, and how they need decision support in their workflow. Does an alert need to appear at prescription creation? During verification? At dispensing?

2. Balancing Automation with Clinical Judgement  

AI should augment clinical expertise, not replace it. Through user research, we're identifying which tasks benefit from automation and which require human oversight. Our CDSS is designed to free up clinicians' time for complex decision-making, not create alert fatigue.

3. Iterative Testing with Real Users  

We don't launch and hope for the best. Every iteration of our CDSS features is tested with oncology pharmacists and prescribers, refined based on their feedback, and tested again. This cycle continues until the feature genuinely improves their workflow.

Join Our User Research Panel

If you're an existing iQemo user and want to influence the future of chemotherapy prescribing technology, we'd love to hear from you.

National Horizons Panel is our user research panel where oncology professionals can participate in:

• Feature feedback sessions

• Usability testing

• Design workshops

• Priority-setting discussions

Your expertise helps us build better tools for the entire oncology community. Interested? Contact us at horizons@iqhealthtech.com to join the panel.

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Working with IQHT as a New Customer

If you're not yet an iQemo user but are interested in how user-centric design could transform SACT prescribing at your trust or hospital, we'd welcome a conversation.

Our Business Development team, led by Irfhan Mururajani, can discuss:

• How iQemo's user-centric approach addresses common SACT prescribing challenges

• Opportunities to shape features for your specific workflows

• Implementation support and ongoing collaboration

Get in touch at info@iqhealthtech.com  to explore how we can work together.

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The IQHT Difference

Many healthcare technology vendors build features in isolation and expect clinicians to adapt. We believe the opposite: technology should adapt to clinicians.

This isn't just our philosophy, it's how we operate every day. From our National Horizons Panel to our design verification processes, user collaboration is embedded in everything we do.

Because at the end of the day, useful technology isn't defined by us. It's defined by you.

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