Usability Methods for Ensuring Health Information Technology Safety: Evidence-Based Approaches. Contribution of the...

Area of Science:

• Health Information Technology (HIT)
• Usability Engineering
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Health information technology (HIT) literature frequently reports usability issues and safety hazards.
• Usability engineering methods are increasingly adopted to improve HIT system usability and safety.
• These methods are integral to the design and implementation of modern HIT systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe evidence-based approaches for applying usability engineering methods in HIT.
• To outline a framework for developing more usable and safer health information technology.
• To present a multi-phased strategy for ensuring system usability and safety in healthcare.

Main Methods:

• A multi-phased approach encompassing usability inspection with safety heuristics.
• Laboratory-based usability testing under artificial conditions.
• Clinical simulations with simulated patients and naturalistic studies in real-world settings.

Main Results:

• Usability inspection and testing are essential before widespread HIT release.
• Layered testing, including clinical simulations and naturalistic evaluation, detects more issues.
• The described methods have been applied to electronic health records, decision support systems, and consumer health applications.

Conclusions:

• A framework utilizing multiple layers of evidence can lead to more usable and safer HIT.
• Systematic application of usability engineering enhances both usability and safety.
• Continuous evaluation throughout the HIT lifecycle is recommended.