Hospital information system usability of educational hospitals in Isfahan using heuristic evaluation method

Abstract

Aim : Considering positive effects of hospital information system (HIS) in patients' treatment and organization performance, it is necessary to evaluate the quality of services provided by these systems. Hence, this research was aimed to evaluate HIS usability after training evaluators based on heuristic method in Isfahan hospitals. Methods: This research is a practical, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, which was conducted in Isfahan educational hospitals in 2014. In this research, four evaluators assessed four HIS (Kosar, Rayavaran Tose, Pooya Samaneh Diva, Sayan) independently. Data collection tools were researcher-made check lists based on 10 Nielsen's components, which validity of the checklist was verified by faculty members, as well as medical informatics and hospital information technology specialists. Checklist not required to reliability but because of the proliferation evaluators of reliability with group training of evaluators that are involved in the process was provided. Then data were analyzed using SPSS version 20 software (IBM Company, USA). Result: The results indicated that the total of detected problems in Kosar System, Rayavaran Tose System, Pooya Samaneh Diva System, and Sayan System were %31, %34, %24, and %24, respectively. The highest number of problems with %58 was related to users' freedom and dominating the system, and the lowest number with %16 was related to the component of match between the system and the real world. Conclusion: Despite the widespread use in the country, the design of many existing health systems has usability problems, which can affect the quality of users' interaction with the system and, therefore, caring outcome. Observing available standards and regulations in designing information system user interface like mentioned components in this research can lead to problem reduction.