Impact of Participatory Design for Drug-Drug Interaction Alerts. A Comparison Study Between Two Interfaces.

Decision support systems for alert drug-drug interactions have been shown as valid strategy to reduce medical error. Even so the use of these systems has not been as expected, probably due to the lack of a suitable design. This study compares two interfaces, one of them developed using participatory design techniques (based on user centered design processes). This work showed that the use of these techniques improves satisfaction, effectiveness and efficiency in an alert system for drug-drug interactions, a fact that was evident in specific situations such as the decrease of errors to meet the specified task, the time, the workload optimization and users overall satisfaction with the system.

User-Centered Design Practices to Redesign a Nursing e-Chart in Line with the Nursing Process.

Regarding the user-centered design (UCD) practices carried out at Hospital Italiano of Buenos Aires, nursing e-chart user interface was redesigned in order to improve records' quality of nursing process based on an adapted Virginia Henderson theoretical model and patient safety standards to fulfil Joint Commission accreditation requirements. UCD practices were applied as standardized and recommended for electronic medical records usability evaluation. Implementation of these practices yielded a series of prototypes in 5 iterative cycles of incremental improvements to achieve goals of usability which were used and perceived as satisfactory by general care nurses. Nurses' involvement allowed balance between their needs and institution requirements.

User-Centered Design of Health Care Software Development: Towards a Cultural Change.

Health care software gets better user efficiency, efficacy and satisfaction when the software is designed with their users' needs taken into account. However, it is not trivial to change the practice of software development to adopt user-centered design. In order to produce this change in the Health Informatics Department of the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, a plan was devised and implemented. The article presents the steps of the plan, shows how the steps were carried on, and reflects on the lessons learned through the process.

Participatory design for drug-drug interaction alerts.

The utilization of decision support systems, in the point of care, to alert drug-drug interactions has been shown to improve quality of care. Still, the use of these systems has not been as expected, it is believed, because of the difficulties in their knowledge databases; errors in the generation of the alerts and the lack of a suitable design. This study expands on the development of alerts using participatory design techniques based on user centered design process. This work was undertaken in three stages (inquiry, participatory design and usability testing) it showed that the use of these techniques improves satisfaction, effectiveness and efficiency in an alert system for drug-drug interactions, a fact that was evident in specific situations such as the decrease of errors to meet the specified task, the time, the workload optimization and users overall satisfaction in the system.