Comprehensive usability evaluation of electronic prescription systems: integrating expert and user perspectives

Electronic prescribing, allows physicians to send prescriptions digitally to pharmacies and laboratories. This process streamlines patient care and ensures equitable access to medical services for all patients. This study aims to do the usability evaluation of Social Security electronic prescription system (SSEPS) and Health Insurance electronic prescription system (HIEPS) using insights from users and experts.

This research is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in 2024. Three experts evaluated two electronic prescribing systems using Nielsen's Heuristic evaluation principles, rating issues on a 0-4 severity scale. The usability evaluation, conducted with fifty users via the Persian SUS, showed that the translated instrument was highly reliable (α = 0.79). Expert and user feedback were compared across 2 systems using SPSS to identify usability improvements.

Based on heuristic evaluation, HIEPS demonstrates better consistency, but significant improvements in error prevention and user control remain priorities for both systems. Usability testing using the SUS revealed a slightly higher average score for the SSEPS (70.73) than the HIEPS (69.21). The significant P-value indicates this difference reflects a real distinction in perceived usability between the two systems.

E-prescription systems, despite their widespread use, continue to face usability issues that risk patient safety, reduce efficiency, and impact user satisfaction and hospital finances. Combining user and expert evaluations is more effective in identifying these issues than using a single method. Annual usability assessments and updates are recommended to address these challenges and improve system performance.