Usability of electronic patient records for assessment and care planning in nursing homes

Abstract

Nursing homes are more frequently turning to the electronic patient record (EPR) to manage documentation. Potential benefits associated with EPR include the storage of longitudinal information, interoperability, and improved documentation quality. However, the uptake of EPR in nursing homes has varied considerably across countries, which has been associated with the incompatibility of some EPR systems with this environment. Furthermore, the suitability of EPR for planning dementia care is largely unknown. This study aims to produce recommendations for the future development of EPR systems for use in the assessment and care planning for people with dementia in nursing homes. Case studies of four nursing homes using EPR in Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain and the UK will be conducted. There are two elements to the study: (i) the contextual inquiry method will be employed to explore usability issues with different types of end users. Data will be analysed using qualitative content analysis; (ii) the electronic care plan used in each of the homes will be compared with best practice guidelines for dementia care planning in order to explore the extent to which they include aspects of care that are relevant for people with dementia. Primary data collection will be ongoing throughout 2018, and results will form the basis of recommendations for future EPR development. It is expected that results will lead to improved design of EPR for use in nursing homes, specifically in the assessment and care planning for people with dementia.