Vendor Selection Criteria: Usability

Previous studies demonstrated how usability measurements can be applied to the evaluation of EHR systems; however, most of these studies were conducted post implementation. If significant problems have been discovered with usability, at this point in the system development life cycle it is usually too late to make any major modifications to the EHR system. Therefore, it is important to consider the usability criteria in early stages of the EHR implementation, and particularly during the process of vendor and product selection.

A 2015 report by Ratwani et al. reviews complaince with the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) requirements for EHR vendor usability practices. Compliance with the usability standards was weak, and the authors suggest that this lack of focus on usability may contribute significantly to end user frustration.

Usability describes how easy it is for users to accurately and efficiently accomplish a task while using a system. Usability can be defined in terms of three main attributes: useful, usable, and satisfaction. Even in the presence of all necessary features, the system can still have poor reliability, mismatch between interface and tasks, and lack critical functionalities that can impact end-user ability to conduct work.

The following methods can be used to measure usability:

• Literature Search
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Cognitive walkthrough
• Laboratory Testing
• Remote Evaluation
• Usability Questionnaires
• Predictive Modeling
• Risk Assessment
• Workload Evaluation