TY - JOUR
T1 - A National Survey of EMR Usability
T2 - comparisons between medical and nursing professions in the hospital and primary care sectors in Australia and Finland
AU - Lloyd, Sheree
AU - Long, Karrie
AU - Oshni Alvandi, Abraham
AU - Di Donato, Josie
AU - Probst, Yasmine
AU - Roach, Jeremy
AU - Bain, Christopher
N1 - Funding Information:
Griffith University, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health, provided funding for a research assistant to prepare ethical approvals, literature review and other study documentation. The AIDH and various professional bodies distributed surveys to their members. The Finnish researchers for permission to use the instrument. Their research and efforts to develop, test, validate the NuHISS, analyse and publish their studies over many years. We thank the respondents to the survey and their participation in this research. Led by Griffith University the research was a collaboration between academics and health professionals from Monash University, University of Wollongong, Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) and members of the Australasian Institute of Digital Health (AIDH).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021
Copyright:
Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - Background: Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMRs) are now part of nursing and medical professionals daily work in the acute and primary care sectors in Australia. Usability is an important factor in their successful adoption and impacts upon clinical workflow, safety and quality, communication, and collaboration. This study replicates a significant body of work conducted by Finnish researchers applying a usability focused survey to understand medical and nursing professionals’ experiences in the Australian context. As we implement EMRs across health systems, their usability and design to support clinicians to effectively deliver and document care, is essential. Methods: We conducted an observational study using a cross sectional survey, the National Usability-Focused HIS Scale (NuHISS) developed and validated by Finnish researchers. For this study 13 usability statements collected clinician impressions of EMRs related to technical quality, ease of use, benefits, and collaboration. We report the responses from medical and nursing professionals working in clinical practice settings in Australia, including primary care and hospital sectors in 2020. Results: Nursing and medical professionals have different experiences with EMR usability. This depends on the sector they work in and the usability feature measured. In our sample, technical quality features were more positively experienced by doctors in the primary care sector than nurses as well as ease of obtaining patient information and prevention of errors. In the hospital sector nurses experiences with EMRs were more positive with respect to support for routine task completion, learnability, ease of obtaining patient information and entry of patient data. Conclusions: The NuHISS is a suitable tool for measuring the usability experiences of Australian clinicians and the EMRs utilised. Differences in usability experiences were noted between professional groups and sectors. A focus on the usability perspectives of clinicians when enhancing or developing EMR solutions is advocated.
AB - Background: Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMRs) are now part of nursing and medical professionals daily work in the acute and primary care sectors in Australia. Usability is an important factor in their successful adoption and impacts upon clinical workflow, safety and quality, communication, and collaboration. This study replicates a significant body of work conducted by Finnish researchers applying a usability focused survey to understand medical and nursing professionals’ experiences in the Australian context. As we implement EMRs across health systems, their usability and design to support clinicians to effectively deliver and document care, is essential. Methods: We conducted an observational study using a cross sectional survey, the National Usability-Focused HIS Scale (NuHISS) developed and validated by Finnish researchers. For this study 13 usability statements collected clinician impressions of EMRs related to technical quality, ease of use, benefits, and collaboration. We report the responses from medical and nursing professionals working in clinical practice settings in Australia, including primary care and hospital sectors in 2020. Results: Nursing and medical professionals have different experiences with EMR usability. This depends on the sector they work in and the usability feature measured. In our sample, technical quality features were more positively experienced by doctors in the primary care sector than nurses as well as ease of obtaining patient information and prevention of errors. In the hospital sector nurses experiences with EMRs were more positive with respect to support for routine task completion, learnability, ease of obtaining patient information and entry of patient data. Conclusions: The NuHISS is a suitable tool for measuring the usability experiences of Australian clinicians and the EMRs utilised. Differences in usability experiences were noted between professional groups and sectors. A focus on the usability perspectives of clinicians when enhancing or developing EMR solutions is advocated.
KW - Electronic health record
KW - Electronic medical record
KW - Health professional
KW - National survey
KW - Usability
KW - User experience
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113280581&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104535
DO - 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2021.104535
M3 - Article
C2 - 34425552
AN - SCOPUS:85113280581
SN - 1386-5056
VL - 154
JO - International Journal of Medical Informatics
JF - International Journal of Medical Informatics
M1 - 104535
ER -