Affiliations: [a] Department of Industrial Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea | [b] Department of Information Medicine, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea | [c] Department of Industrial & Information Systems Engineering, Soongsil University, Seoul, Republic of Korea | [d] Nursing Department, Inha University, Incheon, Republic of Korea | [e] Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin, Republic of Korea | [f] Department of Emergency Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Sangwoo Bahn, Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1732 Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do 17104, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 31 201 3654; E-mail: panlot@gmail.com and Jae-Ho Lee, Department of Emergency Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, 88 Olympic-ro 43-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul 05505, Republic of Korea. E-mail: rufiji@gmail.com.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Despite the benefits of using electronic medical record (EMR) systems, existing studies show that many healthcare providers are uncertain regarding their usability. The usability issues of these systems decrease their efficiency, discourage clinicians, and cause dissatisfaction among patients, which may result in safety risks and harm. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study was to collect and analyze EMR system usability problems from actual users. Practical user interface guidelines were presented based on the medical practices of these users. METHODS:Employing an online questionnaire with a seven-point Likert scale, usability issues of EMR systems were collected from 200 emergency department healthcare providers (103 physicians (medical doctors) and 97 nurses) from South Korea. RESULTS:The most common usability problem among the physicians and nurses was generating in-patient selection. This pertained to the difficulty in finding the required information on-screen because of poor visibility and a lack of distinctiveness. CONCLUSIONS:The major problems of EMR systems and their causes were identified. It is recommended that intensive visual enhancement of EMR system interfaces should be implemented to support user tasks. By providing a better understanding of the current usability problems among medical practitioners, the results of this study can be useful for developing EMR systems with increased effectiveness and efficiency.
Keywords: EMR user interface, design guidelines, clinical workflow
