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Default software settings. People often assume the default graph setting in a software program is the best visual choice, but that’s not always the case, Dr. Ziemba says. Microsoft Excel’s default setting, for example, uses a visually jarring blue and orange color combination in bar graphs. The text is too small, and the bars are spaced so far apart that it’s hard for viewers to see the big picture that the graph is trying to create, he adds.

The Microsoft Excel default setting also floats a chart name in the white space above the chart bars and does not label axes. The location of the chart name can be distracting and usually must be removed for medical journals, which tend to put the chart names in the captions, Dr. Ziemba says. Furthermore, the lack of axes labels can cause ambiguity. “Always have axes labels,” he continues, “which often eliminate the need for a chart title.”

Switching a bar chart’s orientation from a vertical layout (left) to a horizontal layout (right) can add more space for necessary text and improve visualization.

The inappropriate pie chart. One thing that a pie chart can do better than any other graphic is illustrate when one element is greater than all the other elements in the chart combined, Dr. Ziemba says. “In a bar chart, you would not easily see that the biggest bar is bigger than everything else combined, but the reason you can see that in a pie chart is because your eye is drawn to the angle at the center,” he explains.

Yet pie charts underperform in many situations. For example, it is not advisable to place two pie charts side by side for comparison purposes because similar elements do not appear next to each other, Dr. Ziemba says. Pie charts also should not be used for data with a linear progression, such as age. Ages should be displayed in a line from youngest to oldest. Furthermore, he adds, cutting pie charts into too many pieces reduces their visual impact.

Too much data. While graphs and charts can be visually stimulating, it is possible to provide viewers with too much information in such formats, Dr. Ziemba says. Therefore, it is often better to state information that represents a single data point within text instead of burying it in a chart that readers will have to decipher. “Don’t show data just because you have it,” he cautions.

Most importantly, consider charts and graphs to be tools for telling a story with data, Dr. Ziemba says. Pathologists should keep the differing perspectives and needs of viewers in mind when telling that story.

These tips can help pathologists “reduce the cognitive load” of their visual data representations, Dr. Ziemba says. “When it comes to spotting trends and understanding the significance of the data on display,” he adds, “you want viewers to instantly see it.”

—Renee Caruthers

CompuGroup Medical acquires Medicus

CompuGroup Medical US has purchased Medicus Laboratory Information Systems from Diagnostic Systems Consulting.

Medicus is a provider of laboratory-management software, middleware, and laboratory consulting services. The company has installed its Medicus LIS in more than 1,000 laboratories nationwide.

“The acquisition of Medicus will further enable CompuGroup Medical to grow its relationships with large, value-added resellers in the U.S. health care market,” according to a CGM press release. “CGM will also be able to leverage the expansive Medicus network of health care organizations and consultants selling its LIS solutions.”

Medicus’ LIS team will become part of CompuGroup Medical US, which offers a product portfolio that includes the CGM LabDaq, CGM SchuyLab, and CGM AP Easy laboratory information systems.

CompuGroup Medical, 800-359-0911

FTC updates tool to assist mobile app developers

The Federal Trade Commission has released an update to the online, interactive Mobile Health Apps Tool, which provides developers of mobile health applications with information about federal laws relevant to designing, marketing, and distributing such products.

The tool provides a list of questions to help users assess whether specific federal laws apply to the apps they are developing based on what the tool will do, how it will be used, how users will get it, and who will use it. It addresses the FTC Act and FTC health breach notification rule; Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act privacy, security, and breach notification rules; Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; 21st Century Cures Act health IT and information-blocking provisions; ONC Cures Act final rule; and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act.

“Whether you are a developer new to mHealth, focusing on different users than you have with prior mHealth products, or are building innovative features into an existing app focused on the same kinds of users, the Mobile Health Apps Tool can serve as a sort of ‘trail guide’ to these federal laws centered on information governance and federally required protections for information related to an individual’s health, as well as the safety and effectiveness of medical devices—which some mobile health apps might be,” according to an ONC Health IT Buzz blog post.

The ONC noted that developers of mobile health apps may also be subject to federal and state laws that are outside the scope of the Mobile Health Apps Tool.

The tool was revised as part of a collaborative effort between the FTC, Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator and Office for Civil Rights, and the FDA.

Dr. Aller practices clinical informatics in Southern California. He can be reached at raller@usc.edu. Dennis Winsten is founder of Dennis Winsten & Associates, Healthcare Systems Consultants. He can be reached at dwinsten.az@gmail.com.