Usability Study of a Novel Collaborative Health IT in a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Non-mandated technologies hold the promise of increasing health care quality by rendering care that is patient-centered, collaborative, and team approach-driven. Large Customizable Interactive Monitor (LCIM), a non-mandated collaborative health information technology (HIT), is a flat panel touch screen monitor that displays validated patient information from the electronic health record (EHR), including vital signs, laboratory results, medications, X-rays, and interventions. The present study conducts semi-structured interviews with 33 parents and 36 providers to address gaps in post-adoption research on collaborative inpatient LCIM in pediatric settings. The study identified 15 usability issues experienced by doctors and patients’ families while using LCIM. The themes were surrounded around data display characteristics, intuition, physical properties, features supporting or opposing the user’s mental model, and technical problems. Filling these gaps produces scientific knowledge about how providers and patients’ family members perceive LCIM technology’s usability.