A Real-Time Autonomous Dashboard for the Emergency Department: 5-Year Case Study

Area of Science:

• Health Information Technology
• Emergency Medicine
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Increasing pressure on emergency departments (EDs) necessitates advanced monitoring and management tools.
• Dashboards are emerging as key health information technology solutions for ED operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development of a real-time autonomous ED dashboard.
• To evaluate clinical staff perspectives on the dashboard's usability and impact on workflow.

Main Methods:

• Dashboard developed based on principles of accessibility, minimal workflow interruption, and patient privacy.
• Design features included geographical layout, patient-level alerts, and real-time summary data.
• Usability assessed using System Usability Scale (SUS) and Situation Awareness Rating Technique.

Main Results:

• The ED dashboard, launched in 2013, underwent revisions to enhance usability.
• 52 ED staff surveyed reported "OK-to-Good" usability (average SUS score 67.6).
• Positive feedback on concentration support, complexity/variability representation, information quality, and familiarity; lower scores for "division of attention".

Conclusions:

• A real-time autonomous ED dashboard was successfully developed and implemented.
• The dashboard demonstrated good usability and effectiveness over 5 years of use.
• User evaluations indicate the dashboard supports ED management and clinical staff needs.