Examining user satisfaction with single sign-on and computer application roaming within emergency departments

In an age where mandatory computer usage within clinical care settings is a non-negotiable term of employment, the amount of applications a provider must access to document care is rapidly increasing. Each application contains an associated username and password. The increasing frequency with which clinicians have to log in and out of different applications is a source of frustration for many healthcare professionals. Healthcare executives see lost productivity. Single sign-on with added computer application roaming capabilities on shared workstations is a viable solution for both the clinician and the organization. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of implementation of single sign-on technology with application roaming on shared workstations. This study focuses on the perception of satisfaction with the implementation of single sign-on technologies within a midsized integrated delivery health network's five emergency departments. We contribute to theory with the following: (1) the development of a construct called facilitated technology interruptions, (2) validation of the construct facilitated technology interruptions, and (3) application of a quantitative method to test the relationship between facilitated technology interruptions and user satisfaction. We surveyed five emergency departments and proposed five hypotheses. We found the positive relationship between facilitated technology interruptions and user satisfaction; the positive relationships between effort expectancy and satisfaction, and effort expectancy and willingness to recommend; and the positive relationship between satisfaction and willingness to recommend. We did not confirm the positive relationship between facilitated technology interruptions and willingness to recommend. We conclude that single sign-on technology increases user satisfaction. Other organizations may use the findings from this study and perform pre-single sign-on versus post-single sign-on evaluations. In practice, single sign-on improved productivity and ensured compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, minimization of errors, and disruption for critical work.