Proposing Electronic Health Record Usability Requirements Based on Enriched ISO 9241 Metric Usability Model

INTRODUCTION: System usability assessment is among the important aspects in assessing the quality of clinical information technology, especially when the end users of the system are concerned. This study aims at providing a comprehensive list of system usability. METHODS: This research is a descriptive cross-sectional one conducted using Delphi technique in three phases in 2013. After experts’ ideas were concluded, the final version of the questionnaire including 163 items in three phases was presented to 40 users of information systems in hospitals. The grading ranged from 0-4. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS software. Those requirements with a mean point of three or higher were finally confirmed. RESULTS: The list of system usability requirements for electronic health record was designed and confirmed in nine areas including suitability for the task (24 items), self-descriptiveness (22 items), controllability (19 questions), conformity with user expectations (25 items), error tolerance (21 items), suitability for individualization (7 items), suitability for learning (19 items), visual clarity (18 items) and auditory presentation (8 items). CONCLUSION: A relatively comprehensive model including useful requirements for using EHR was presented which can increase functionality, effectiveness and users’ satisfaction. Thus, it is suggested that the present model be adopted by system designers and healthcare system institutions to assess those systems.