Usability evaluation of an emergency department information system prototype designed using cognitive systems engineering techniques.
This article presents an evaluation of novel display concepts for an emergency department information system (EDIS) designed using cognitive systems engineering methods. EDISs assist emergency medicine staff with tracking patient care and ED resource allocation. Participants performed patient planning and orientation tasks using the EDIS displays and rated the display's ability to support various cognitive performance objectives along with the usability, usefulness, and predicted frequency of use for 18 system components. Mean ratings were positive for cognitive performance support objectives, usability, usefulness, and frequency of use, demonstrating the successful application of design methods to create useful and usable EDIS concepts that provide cognitive support for emergency medicine staff. Nurse and provider roles had significantly different perceptions of the usability and usefulness of certain EDIS components, suggesting that they have different information needs while working.
National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Institute for Innovation, MedStar Health, Washington D.C., USA.
Lindsey N
LN
Clark
National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Institute for Innovation, MedStar Health, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Natalie C
NC
Benda
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Sudeep
S
Hegde
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Nicolette M
NM
McGeorge
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
Theresa K
TK
Guarrera-Schick
National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Institute for Innovation, MedStar Health, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Emergency Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington D.C., USA.
A Zachary
AZ
Hettinger
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA.
David T
DT
LaVergne
Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA.
Shawna J
SJ
Perry
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA; Clinical Safety Research Unit, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Robert L
RL
Wears
National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Institute for Innovation, MedStar Health, Washington D.C., USA; Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA; Department of Emergency Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington D.C., USA.
Rollin J
RJ
Fairbanks
Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. Electronic address: Bisantz@buffalo.edu.
Ann M
AM
Bisantz
D003071:Cognition; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration; D006804:Ergonomics; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D010355:Patient Identification Systems; D012985:Software Design; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014584:User-Computer Interface; D057188:Workflow; D016526:Workload
Electronic department information systems; Human factors methods; Patient tracking systems; Usability