BACKGROUND
The acceptance and usage of a personalized health record (PHR) depends on usability and perceived usefulness of the PHR.
OBJECTIVE
Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess usability and perceived usefulness of an online PHR for medication reconciliation and to describe associations between usability and perceived usefulness and patient-, setting-, and medication-related factors.
METHODS
A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted with patients with either an outpatient visit (rheumatology ward) or planned admission in the hospital (cardiology, neurology, internal medicine or pulmonary wards). All patients received an invitation to update their medication list in an online PHR two weeks prior to their appointment/admission. One month after the hospital visit, PHR-users were asked to rate usability (using the System Usability Scale (SUS)) and perceived usefulness on a 5-point Likert scale. The SUS-scores were classified according to the adjective rating scale and furthermore dichotomized in the categories: low (SUS between 0-51) or good (SUS 51-100) usability. Association between patient-, setting-, and medication-related factors and the usability and perceived usefulness were analysed.
RESULTS
255 (34%) of the 743 invited PHR-users completed the questionnaire. The majority of inpatients (78%) and outpatients (83%) indicated that usability of the PHR was good. At the outpatient clinic, experience with digital devices (adjusted odds ratio 1.36; 95%CI:1.01–1.83) was significantly associated with a good usability. Regarding perceived usefulness, the majority of the in- and outpatients (76% and 78%, respectively) reported that the PHR yielded at least one benefit (out of seven) with regard to their visit to the physician.
CONCLUSIONS
Usability and perceived usefulness of a PHR for medication reconciliation were rated by patients as good. Further research should explore the barriers and facilitators of patients with a low rated usability and perceived usefulness.