Finally!
Data for this study was collected years ago, but we just never had the time to sit down and analyze it properly until last year. But we somehow managed to squeeze it into the pandemic schedule at last, and now it’s published!
Hägglund M, Scandurra I
User Evaluation of the Swedish Patient Accessible Electronic Health Record: System Usability Scale
JMIR Hum Factors 2021;8(3):e24927
doi: 10.2196/24927
PMID: 34313596
The data was collected through an oline survey which was accessible to everyone who logged into the Swedish patient accessible electronic health record (PAEHR) Journalen. The survey had lots of questions, and part of it was the 10 System Usability Scale (SUS) items. We had 2587 unique users complete the survey.
Item | SUS questions | Modified questions | Questions in Swedish |
1 | I think that I would like to use this system frequently. | I think that I would like to use Journalen regularly | Jag tror att jag vill använda ”Journalen” regelbundet |
2 | I found the system unnecessarily complex. | I found Journalen unnecessarily complex | Jag anser att ”Journalen” är mer komplicerad än vad den behöver vara |
3 | I thought the system was easy to use. | I thought Journalen was easy to use | Jag anser att ”Journalen” är lätt att använda |
4 | I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use this system. | I think that I would need the support of a technical person to be able to use Journalen | Jag tror att jag skulle behöva personlig teknisk support för att kunna använda ”Journalen” |
5 | I found the various functions in this system were well integrated. | I found the various functions in the system were well integrated | Jag anser att de olika funktionerna i ”Journalen” fungerar väl tillsammans |
6 | I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system. | I thought there was too much inconsistency in this system | Jag anser att det finns många delar i ”Journalen” som inte är konsekventa |
7 | I would imagine that most people would learn to use this system very quickly. | I would imagine that most people would learn to use Journalen very quickly | Jag tror att de flesta skulle kunna lära sig att använda ”Journalen” ganska snabbt |
8 | I found the system very cumbersome to use. | I found Journalen very cumbersome to use | Jag anser att ”Journalen” är besvärlig att använda |
9 | I felt very confident using the system. | I felt very confident using Journalen | Jag känner mig väldigt säker och trygg (på vad jag gör) när jag använder ”Journalen” |
10 | I needed to learn a lot of things before I could get going with this system. | I needed to learn a lot things before I could get going with Journalen | Jag behöver lära mig ganska mycket innan jag kan börja använda ”Journalen” |
The total mean score for all respondents to the SUS items was 79.81 (SD 14.25), which corresponds to a system with good usability. According to Bangor and colleagues’ thorough evaluation of the SUS, a system needs to score above 70 to be considered at least passable. Better systems will score in the high 70s to high 80s, and scores over 90 indicate a truly superior system.
Now, the SUS scale will give you an indication of how good or bad a system is, but it will not tell you much about what usability problems your users are actually struggling with. Therefore, we also asked the study participants to comment on the usability in a free-text answer. We are currently working on finalizing the analysis of these answers, and they are VERY interesting!