Development of evaluation methods for eHealth Usability (UUU)

Purpose and goal

UUU´s work to develop and use new and improved methods for usability evaluation of health information systems in Region Örebro´s ongoing project FVIS/VISUS is to be considered started, but not completed - which in itself is/was the overall purpose of the project (individual mobility). UUU has served as the necessary catalyst to provide the opportunity for the region and the university to benefit from each other´s competencies and environments, for business development and for research. We developed an evaluation method to measure usability of health record systems using test cases.

Expected results and effects

A method is developed, tested and used at a primary care center, ready to be used in other units/organizations. - Co-designed development of a usability evaluation method. - Application of the method to a region-wide health record system in operation. - Adaptation for use in other units/organizations is possible. - A win-win situation: Without the eHealth researchers, current EHR would not have been evaluated and a baseline to compare functionality and usability of the new system would have been lacking.

Planned approach and implementation

In a co-design process, a practical method for usability testing in operational activities has been systematically developed. 22 test cases+user satisfaction (according to ISO 9241-11) were carried out at a primary care center in the region. Analysis: - Compared to the plan, time/resources were consumed creating the test environment and test data for realistic test cases. - The employees at the operational level are satisfied - More focus at the strategic level would have been necessary for smooth transition to continued cooperation.Now the work is on hold, pending on new agreements.