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User Manuals for a Primary Care Electronic Medical Record System: A Mixed Methods Study of User- and Vendor-Generated
Aviv Shachak1, Rustam Dow2, Jan Barnsley3
1Faculty of Information and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto. Address: Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, 155 College St., Toronto, ON M5T 3M6, Canada; ;
IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
|July 21, 2015
Summary
User-created electronic medical record (EMR) documentation offers practical, workflow-specific guidance. Vendor manuals lack this customization, highlighting a need for context-aware EMR support materials.
Area of Science:
- Health Informatics
- Human-Computer Interaction
- Technical Communication
Background:
- Impersonal support, such as tutorials and user manuals, is crucial for software adoption, particularly for electronic medical records (EMRs).
- Discrepancies between user-generated and vendor-provided documentation can signal unmet support needs and inform future manual design.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differences between user-generated tutorials/manuals and official vendor manuals for an EMR.
- To identify elements in user-generated documentation that could enhance official support materials.
Main Methods:
- A mixed-methods study comparing seven user-generated tutorials and two user-generated manuals with the official vendor manual for an EMR.
- Qualitative framework analysis of documentation principles and quantitative cross-tabulation of error information and visual cues.
Main Results:
- User-developed EMR documentation predominantly featured procedural information tailored to specific workflows, roles, and patient characteristics.
- User materials included more work process-related errors than software usage errors and utilized explicit visual cues in screen captures.
- Vendor documentation was less customized and contained more declarative information.
Conclusions:
- EMR support documentation should be customized to specific organizational contexts and workflows for effective implementation.
- User-generated content offers valuable insights into practical support needs beyond official vendor materials.
- Future research should explore alternative documentation strategies like modular manuals or participatory design to improve EMR usability.
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