Development of a health information system to promote emergency care pathways: A participatory design study

Objective: The successful development and implementation of sustainable healthcare technologies require an understanding of the clinical setting and its potential challenges from a user perspective. Previous studies have uncovered a gap between what emergency departments deliver and the needs and preferences of patients and family members. This study investigated whether a user-driven approach and participatory design could provide a technical solution to bridge the identified gap. Methods: We conducted four workshops, and five one-to-one workshops with patients, family members, healthcare professionals, and information technology specialists to codesign a prototype. Revisions of the prototype were made until an acceptable solution was agreed upon and tested by the participants. The data were analyzed following iterative processes (plan → act → observe → reflect). Results: The participants emphasized the importance of a person-centered approach focusing on improved information. An already implemented system for clinicians’ use only was redesigned into a unique patient module that provides a process line displaying continually updated informative features, including (1) person-centered activities, (2) general information videos, (3) a notepad, (4) estimated waiting time, and (5) the nurse and physician responsible for care and treatment. Conclusion: Participatory design is a usable approach to designing an information system for use in the emergency department. The process yielded insight into the complexity of translating ideas into technologies that can actually be implemented in clinical practice, and the user perspectives revealed the key to identifying these complex aspects. The iterations with the participants enabled us to redesign an existing technology.