Evaluating usability of a commercial electronic health record: A case study

Authors:
Paula J. Edwards;Kevin P. Moloney;Julie A. Jacko;François Sainfort
Affiliations:
HIMformatics, LLC, 2392 Mt. Vernon Road, Suite 102, Dunwoody, GA 30338, USA;Health Systems Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology, 828 West Peachtree St., NW, 2nd Floor, Atlanta, GA 30308, USA;The Institute for Health Informatics, School of Nursing & School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 308 Harvard St., SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA;Division of Health Policy & Management, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware St., SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Venue:
International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
Year:
2008

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Abstract

Electronic health records (EHR) are increasingly being implemented by care providers in order to streamline processes and improve quality of care. Due to EHRs' complexity, the usability of these systems is crucial to ensure safety and to enable clinicians (users) to focus on their patients rather than the technology. This case study presents experiences from the implementation of a commercial EHR in a large pediatric hospital system. This case discusses how a predictive evaluation method, Heuristic Walkthrough, was used to evaluate and improve the usability of the EHR system. Outcomes from the evaluation resulted in immediate changes in the system configuration and training materials, which helped to avoid usability problems at rollout, as well as change requests to the vendor to improve overall system usability in the long term. Design trade-offs and lessons learned for future EHR implementations and other healthcare applications are discussed.