Usability evaluation of emergency department information system: A case of discharge and admission sections of an educational hospital

The emergency department is amongst the most important parts of the hospital, which has a great impact on the performance of other departments. In this regard, Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) plays a vital role in providing effective and appropriate healthcare services.

To evaluate the user-perceived usability of admission and discharge sections of the Emergency Department Information System of Shohada-e-Tajrish Educational Hospital, the study is carried out utilizing SUS and PSSUQ scales. Research participants include all users in the admission and discharge sections of the emergency department of the Hospital.

The mean score of the system usability based on the results of the SUS scale was 49.62±23.23, which is lower than the acceptable level (score above 68). The results generated by the PSSUQ tool revealed that the information quality (4.79), interface quality (4.91), and system usefulness (4.42) of admission and discharge sections of the EDIS do not have appropriate scores and need to be improved in this regard. . The worst usability score was related to system usefulness There was no statistically significant correlation between the age of participants and usability scores. Moreover, there was no statistically significant difference between the user-perceived usability and the education level of participants (p>0.05).

The study revealed that users are not satisfied with system usability. In the event that the usability of the system is suboptimal, the user fails to effectively utilize the system, thereby impeding the attainment of the intended ultimate objective for which the system has been designed. Regarding the importance of admission and discharge sections in the EDIS, strides need to be made to improve the usability of the system which is used at the emergency department of Shohada-e-Tajrish educational hospital.