Cognitive and usability engineering methods for the evaluation of clinical information systems

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Usability Engineering

Background:

• Healthcare decision-makers increasingly demand evidence for health information system (HIS) investments.
• Evaluating HIS impact necessitates diverse methodologies, from clinical trials to user feedback.
• Existing evaluation methods may not fully capture the complexities of HIS in practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a decade-long refinement of methodological approaches for evaluating health information systems.
• To emphasize the integration of cognitive science and usability engineering principles in HIS evaluation.
• To detail practical methods for assessing human-computer interaction and system usability.

Main Methods:

• Application of cognitive science theories and usability engineering methods.
• Usability testing and inspection in both laboratory and naturalistic settings.
• Cognitive task analysis for understanding user interactions with HIS.

Main Results:

• Developed and refined practical methods for evaluating HIS usability over 10 years.
• Demonstrated the value of usability engineering for formative and summative HIS evaluation.
• Highlighted the importance of human-computer interaction assessment in healthcare.

Conclusions:

• Usability engineering and cognitive science offer powerful frameworks for evaluating health information systems.
• These methods enhance the assessment of HIS, particularly human-computer interaction.
• The described approaches complement traditional evaluation techniques for comprehensive HIS assessment.