An appraisal of published usability evaluations of electronic health records via systematic review.
In this systematic review, we aimed to evaluate methodological and reporting trends present in the current literature by investigating published usability studies of electronic health records (EHRs).



A literature search was conducted for articles published through January 2015 using MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science, supplemented by citation and reference list reviews. Studies were included if they tested the usability of hospital and clinic EHR systems in the inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, or operating room setting.



A total of 4848 references were identified for title and abstract screening. Full text screening was performed for 197 articles, with 120 meeting the criteria for study inclusion.



A review of the literature demonstrates a paucity of quality published studies describing scientifically valid and reproducible usability evaluations at various stages of EHR system development. A lack of formal and standardized reporting of EHR usability evaluation results is a major contributor to this knowledge gap, and efforts to improve this deficiency will be one step of moving the field of usability engineering forward.
Division of Neonatal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA ellsworth.marc@mayo.edu.|Multidisciplinary Epidemiology and Translational Research in Critical Care, Emergency and Perioperative Medicine (METRIC-PM) Group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Marc A
MA
Ellsworth
Multidisciplinary Epidemiology and Translational Research in Critical Care, Emergency and Perioperative Medicine (METRIC-PM) Group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.|Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Mikhail
M
Dziadzko
Multidisciplinary Epidemiology and Translational Research in Critical Care, Emergency and Perioperative Medicine (METRIC-PM) Group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.|Division of Infectious Diseases, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
John C
JC
O'Horo
Mayo Clinic Libraries, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Ann M
AM
Farrell
School of Health Information Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA.
Jiajie
J
Zhang
Multidisciplinary Epidemiology and Translational Research in Critical Care, Emergency and Perioperative Medicine (METRIC-PM) Group, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.|Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Vitaly
V
Herasevich
D057286:Electronic Health Records; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics
electronic health records; health information technology; human factors; usability