Berglind Smaradottir

The EU-project United4Health: User-centred design of an information system for a Norwegian telemedicine service

Introduction Organizational changes of health care services in Norway brought to light a need for new clinical pathways. This study presents the design and evaluation of an information system for a new telemedicine service for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients after hospital discharge. Methods A user-centred design approach was employed composed of a workshop with end-users, two user tests and a field trial. For data collection, qualitative methods such as observations, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire were used. Results User workshop’s outcome informed the implementation of the system initial prototype, evaluated by end-users in a usability laboratory. Several usability and functionality issues were identified and solved, such as the interface between the initial colour scheme and the triage colours. Iterative refinements were made and a second user evaluation showed that the main issues were solved. The responses to a questionnaire presented a high score of user satisfaction. In the final phase, a field trial showed satisfactory use of the system. Discussion This study showed how the target end-users groups were actively involved in identifying the needs, suggestions and preferences. These aspects were addressed in the development of an information system through a user-centred design process. The process efficiently enabled users to give feedback about design and functionality. Continuous refinement of the system was the key to full development and suitability for the telemedicine service. This research was a result of the international cooperation between partners within the project United4Health, a part of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research of the European Union.

The Steps of User-Centered Design in Health Information Technology Development: Recommendations from a PhD Research Study

This study was carried out to explore the steps of User-centered Design in development of health information technology. The technology was developed in two research projects: the European Union project United4Health that created a collaborative telemedicine system for remote monitoring of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and the Southern Norway regional project eHealth-extended Care Coordination that built an information system for coordination in inter-municipal health care teams. In both projects, the end-users were involved as active contributors in a User-centered Design process spanning from idea-generation until final deployment stages. This paper presents the steps in the User-centered Design process, based on the results of an empirical PhD research study.

eHealth-Extended Care Coordination: Development of a Collaborative System for Inter-municipal Dementia Teams: A Research Project with a User-Centered Design Approach

In Norway, a health reform was recently adopted to improve continuity of care. Services that were carried out in hospitals were transferred to municipalities. Small and medium size municipalities have established inter-municipal cooperation to provide specialized services across borders. The research project eHealth-extended Care Coordination studied the inter-municipal cooperation for assessment of dementia, identifying a need for improved communication and coordination. This paper presents the development process of a collaborative information system for dementia assessment using a user-centered design approach. Mixed methods, such as observations, semi-structured interviews and questionnaire, were used for data collection. The results showed that end-user involvement usefully informed the development. The information system effectively supported collaborative work and shared access to information for the inter-municipal team.

Usability Evaluation of a Collaborative Health Information System. Lessons from a User-centred Design Process

In Norway, a recent health reform urged municipalities to implement new primary health care services for their citizens. In order to optimise resources, municipalities have established inter-municipal coordination (IMC) to collaborate across organisational borders. Information systems become a necessary tool to support collaboration and shared access to information in an IMC. In this context, the research project eHealthextended Care Coordination identified a specific need for a collaborative information system for the process of evaluation and assessment of dementia in IMC teams. This paper presents the usability evaluation of a collaborative information system for dementia assessment built using a user-centred design approach. Mixed methods such as observations, semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire were used for data collection. The results showed that the new information system supported the collaborative work of the inter-municipal dementia team with a sufficient level of satisfaction among the end-users. The prototyped solution established the foundations for the system implemented in the Norwegian trials of the FP7 EU project United4Health, dedicated to Point-of-Care Services.

User-centred Design of the User Interface of a Collaborative Information System for Inter-municipal Dementia Team

In the Norwegian Health sector there are currently undergoing changes at local, regional and national level triggered by recent health reforms. Municipalities are facing for first time the duty of implementing new primary health services. Inter-municipal coordination (IMC) health care teams have been created to operate across borders to share costs, extend geographical range of operation and optimise resources. This study focuses on the development and evaluation of the user interface (UI) functional prototype of a collaborative information system for IMC dementia team in Norway. Employing a user-centred design approach, the interface prototype was built based on the information gathered on two workshops where the end-users described their current clinical workflow of dementia assessment and how the UI would best fit into their daily work. The outcome of the workshops creatively informed the design of a working prototype that was qualitatively usability tested. Results showed that the UI effectively and efficiently supported the work of the IMC dementia team, with a sufficient level of satisfaction among the end-users. The resulting prototype established the foundation for the system implemented in the FP7 EU project United4Health.

Sharing With Care- Multidisciplinary Teams and Secure Access to Electronic Health Records

Published: Proceedings of the 11th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies Vol 5 2018

Point of Care Solutions: Implementation of Sustainable Service Models.

Recent health reforms and strategies have urged Norwegian municipalities to re-organize their services to prepare for new ways of combining traditional home-based services with technology-assisted point of care interventions. This paper presents the outcomes from a qualitative study on modelling the municipal health care services for the future. The aim was to study the organisation and operation of point of care solutions and identify critical factors for how to model the services of the future.

User-Centered Design of a National Medical Registry for Tick-Borne Diseases

Tick-borne diseases are increasing in a global perspective, with Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis as the most frequent. The Norwegian National Advisory Unit on Tick-borne Diseases is preparing the development of a national medical registry for clinical follow-up of patients with tick-borne diseases based on the best practice guidelines and for research purposes. This paper presents the methodological approach of a user-centered design process applied in the initial phase of the registry development. A user workshop identified user needs, requirements and proposed a service workflow for the registry operation. As the next step, a simulation of the proposed service workflow was performed in a clinical laboratory together with end-user groups. The main contribution of this paper lies on the methodological descriptions of the user-centered design process, and how to facilitate the active contribution of end-users in a technical development process within a health care context.

Evaluation of touchscreen assistive technology for visually disabled users

Touchscreen assistive technology is designed to support speech interaction between visually disabled people and mobile devices, allowing the use of a choreography of gestures to interact with a touch user interface. This paper presents the evaluation of VoiceOver, a screen reader in Apple Inc. products, made in the research project Visually impaired users touching the screen- A user evaluation of assistive technology together with six visually disabled test participants. The aim was to identify challenges related to the performance of the gestures for screen interaction and evaluate the system response to the gestures. The main results showed that most of the hand gestures were easy to perform for the test participants. The system adequately responded to gesture interaction, but some inconsistent responses associated to several functionalities and lack of information were found.

Usability evaluation of a geolocation technology: Safemate

Geolocation technologies are used in location-based alarm systems to provide the geographical location of a target on a represented space in real time. These technologies are becoming part of the welfare technology strategy of Norwegian municipalities to help citizens by knowing their physical location at a specific time. This paper presents a usability study with 11 participants of a new version of a geolocation alarm system installed in several Norwegian municipalities. The evaluation comprised usability tests and exploratory sessions with representatives of two user groups: operators and administrators of the alarm system. The evaluation found minor and major errors in the software and hardware components of the system, but none catastrophic. The findings informed a subsequent iteration of development of the system that addressed the errors found in the usability evaluation. The updated version of the system has been recently deployed in around 50 Norwegian municipalities.