Design and implementation of a hospital-based usability laboratory: insights from a Department of Veterans Affairs laboratory for health information technology.

Background: Although the potential benefits of more usable health information technologies (HIT) are substantial-reduced HIT support costs, increased work efficiency, and improved patient safety--human factors methods to improve usability are rarely employed. The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has emerged as an early leader in establishing usability laboratories to inform the design of HIT, including its electronic health record. Experience with a usability laboratory at a VA Medical Center provides insights on how to design, implement, and leverage usability laboratories in the health care setting.

A Rapid Usability Evaluation (RUE) Method for Health Information Technology.

Usability testing can help generate design ideas to enhance the quality and safety of health information technology. Despite these potential benefits, few healthcare organizations conduct systematic usability testing prior to software implementation. We used a Rapid Usability Evaluation (RUE) method to apply usability testing to software development at a major VA Medical Center.