Usability Flaws in Medication Alerting Systems: Impact on Usage and Work System

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Patient Safety

Background:

• Medication alerting systems are critical for patient safety.
• Previous research identified usability issues in these systems.
• The consequences of these usability flaws on users and work systems remain underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically explore and synthesize the consequences of usability flaws in medication alerting systems.
• To analyze the impact on user experience (usage problems).
• To examine the effects on the broader work system (negative outcomes).

Main Methods:

• Secondary analysis of 26 papers from a systematic review on medication alerting usability.
• Extraction and categorization of usage problems and negative outcomes.
• Analysis of the links between usability flaws, usage problems, and negative outcomes.

Main Results:

• Usability flaws lead to diverse consequences affecting users cognitively, behaviorally, emotionally, and attitudinally.
• Negative impacts extend to workflow, technology effectiveness, medication management, and critically, patient safety.
• Limited complete pathways from specific usability flaws to identified negative outcomes were established.

Conclusions:

• Usability flaws in medication alerting systems negatively affect users and the work system, compromising patient safety.
• Usability is a key factor that may explain the success or failure of intended technological outcomes.
• Improving system usability is essential for realizing the full benefits of health technology.