Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Evaluating the usability of a national health information system with heuristic method

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Hamid Bouraghi
. Sorayya Rezayi 1
. Shahrzad Amirazodi 2
. Ehsan Nabovati 3
. Soheila Saeedi 4

1 Health Information Management Department, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Management and Health Information Technology, School of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran

3 Health Information Management Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran, 4 Clinical Research Development Unit of Farshchian Heart Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

4 Health Information Management Department, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Clinical Research Development Unit of Farshchian Heart Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran

Abstract
BACKGROUND: Hospital Statistics and Information System is one of the most important health
information systems in Iran used in all hospitals in this country. Usability problems can reduce the
speed and precision of users when interacting with this system. This study aimed to identify the
usability problems of a national health system called “AVAB”.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross‑sectional study was conducted in 2020, and
three experts evaluated the usability of this system independently by the heuristic evaluation method.
Nielsen’s usability principles were used to identify usability problems and to classify their severity.
RESULTS: A total of 86 unique problems were identified. The highest number of problems were
related to the two principles of “help and documentation” and “match between system and the real
world” with 23 and 11 usability problems, respectively. The lowest number of problems were related
to the two principles of “visibility of system status” and “help users recognize, diagnose, and recover
from errors,” each with three problems. 58.1% of the identified problems were in the group of major
and catastrophic problems.
CONCLUSIONS: With the help of heuristic evaluation method, a significant number of usability
problems of Hospital Statistics and Information System were identified. Most of the identified problems
were major and catastrophic, and it is necessary to solve these problems by the designers and
developers of this system.

Keywords

Computer heuristics
evaluation study
health information system
heuristics
software
user‑centered design
user–computer interface
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 5
June 2022
Pages 1-7

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