Summative software evaluation of a therapeutic guideline assistance system for empiric antimicrobial therapy in ICU.
OBJECTIVE
While developing the patient data management system ICUData in close cooperation with the software company (IMESO GmbH, Hüttenberg, Germany), a therapeutic guideline assistance system for empiric antimicrobial therapy in ICU (called "Antibiotic Wizard") could be introduced and integrated into the existing software. After its introduction into clinical routine, the first version was to be tested, checked for usability and compared to other software products with the help of the IsoMetrics(s) inventory (based on the EN ISO 9241-10 for computer-assisted workflows).


METHODS
Half a year after introducing the "Antibiotic Wizard" in the ICUs, 40 physicians from different specialties at different levels of training were surveyed in order to detect deficiencies in the use of the program. The results of these surveys were compared to surveys on the word processing software Word for Windows (WinWord) from Microsoft, the hospital information system IS-H*MED from SAP (online and paper surveys) and the administrative program, SAP R/3 HR, also from SAP.


RESULTS
Reliabilities (Cronbach's Alpha) of the subscales ranged from satisfactory (alpha > 0.70) to good (alpha > 0.80), except for "Controllability" (alpha = 0.663) and "Error tolerance" (alpha = 0.693). Medians for individual subscales ranged between 3.04 ("Error tolerance") and 3.96 ("Suitability for learning"). The "Antibiotic Wizard" showed significantly better results compared to both IS-H*MED and SAP R/3 HR in the subscales of "Suitability for the task", "Self-descriptiveness" and "Suitability for learning". In contrast, "Self-descriptiveness" "Controllability" and "Error tolerance" were significantly worse compared to WinWord.


CONCLUSIONS
In generally, the usability of the "Antibiotic Wizard" was deemed good. Some weaknesses were found in the fields of "Error tolerance" and "Controllability". These problems will be corrected in future versions.
Röhrig
Rainer
R
Department of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine, and Pain Therapy, University Hospital Giessen and Marburg GmbH, Campus Giessen, Germany Rudolf-Buchheim-Strasse 7, Giessen, Germany.
Beuteführ
Hannah
H
Hartmann
Bernd
B
Niczko
Eileen
E
Quinzio
Birgit
B
Junger
Axel
A
Hempelmann
Gunter
G
D000328:Adult; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003422:Critical Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D010820:Physicians; D012984:Software; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
D000890:Anti-Infective Agents