Abstract
Interface design professionals frequently conduct usability tests to measure how well users can accomplish certain tasks with a given interface and to identify areas of improvement for redesign efforts. Much of the literature on electronic interface usability tests relates to consumer products, but there are special considerations when performing a usability test on an interface used in health care such as an electronic health record. A recent project involved a usability test of the existing electronic health record in the Veteran’s Health Administration by 30 clinicians. Notable issues were the development of an appropriate clinical scenario, recruiting of representative clinicians, and determining how to address unexpected usability findings. The health care environment adds a particular ethical challenge that may not be present in other usability tests, because it is necessary to balance considerations of patient safety with protection of the clinician participants.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank LeeAnn Cox, Timothy Arnold, Hasan Shanawani, and Viseslav Drincic for their help with developing the clinical scenario.
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Fuller, H.J., Maddox, K.D., Lightner, N.J. (2017). Usability Testing an Electronic Health Record: Lessons Learned and Ethical Considerations. In: Duffy, V., Lightner, N. (eds) Advances in Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 482. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41652-6_39
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-41652-6_39
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