Design of patient-facing immunization visualizations affects task performance: an experimental comparison of 4...

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Patient Engagement

Background:

• Electronic health records (EHRs) are increasingly patient-facing.
• Effective visualization of immunization data is crucial for patient understanding and adherence.
• Existing EHR immunization visualizations vary in design and usability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally evaluate lay individuals' interpretation and use of four different EHR patient-facing immunization visualizations.
• To compare task performance across distinct visualization formats.

Main Methods:

• Sixty-nine participants completed an online survey.
• Participants interacted with one of four EHR immunization visualizations: Epic MyChart, eClinicWorks, a downloadable EHR record, or an eLetter.
• Task performance (time, accuracy) and subjective measures (workload, numeracy, health literacy) were assessed.

Main Results:

• Visualization design significantly impacted task performance.
• Epic MyChart users took longer and entered fewer correct dates compared to eLetter and eClinicWorks users.
• No significant performance differences were found based on numeracy, health literacy, or demographics.

Conclusions:

• Unique design elements of the tested visualizations led to performance variations.
• Practical design guidance for immunization visualizations is provided.
• Future research should explore context of use and the effectiveness of table-based visualizations.