Appl Clin Inform 2023; 14(01): 185-198
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1761435
Review Article

A Systematic Review of Quantitative Methods for Evaluating Electronic Medication Administration Record and Bar-Coded Medication Administration Usability

Zoe M. Pruitt*
1   National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
,
Sadaf Kazi*
1   National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
2   Department of Emergency Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
,
Charlene Weir
3   Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
,
Teresa Taft
3   Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
,
Deanna-Nicole Busog
1   National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
,
Raj Ratwani
1   National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
2   Department of Emergency Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
,
Aaron Z. Hettinger
1   National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare, MedStar Health Research Institute, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
2   Department of Emergency Medicine, Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia, United States
› Institutsangaben

Funding U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, grant number: R01HS025136.
 

Abstract

Background Although electronic medication administration records (eMARs) and bar-coded medication administration (BCMA) have improved medication safety, poor usability of these technologies can increase patient safety risks.

Objectives The objective of our systematic review was to identify the impact of eMAR and BCMA design on usability, operationalized as efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction.

Methods We retrieved peer-reviewed journal articles on BCMA and eMAR quantitative usability measures from PsycInfo and MEDLINE (1946–August 20, 2019), and EMBASE (1976–October 23, 2019). Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we screened articles, extracted and categorized data into the usability categories of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, and evaluated article quality.

Results We identified 1,922 articles and extracted data from 41 articles. Twenty-four articles (58.5%) investigated BCMA only, 10 (24.4%) eMAR only, and seven (17.1%) both BCMA and eMAR. Twenty-four articles (58.5%) measured effectiveness, 8 (19.5%) efficiency, and 17 (41.5%) satisfaction. Study designs included randomized controlled trial (n = 1; 2.4%), interrupted time series (n = 1; 2.4%), pretest/posttest (n = 21; 51.2%), posttest only (n = 14; 34.1%), and pretest/posttest and posttest only for different dependent variables (n = 4; 9.8%). Data collection occurred through observations (n = 19, 46.3%), surveys (n = 17, 41.5%), patient safety event reports (n = 9, 22.0%), surveillance (n = 6, 14.6%), and audits (n = 3, 7.3%).

Conclusion Of the 100 measures across the 41 articles, implementing BCMA and/or eMAR broadly resulted in an increase in measures of effectiveness (n = 23, 52.3%) and satisfaction (n = 28, 62.2%) compared to measures of efficiency (n = 3, 27.3%). Future research should focus on eMAR efficiency measures, utilize rigorous study designs, and generate specific design requirements.


Background and Significance

Several nurse-facing technologies, such as the electronic medication administration record (eMAR) and bar-coded medication administration (BCMA), support inpatient medication administration. Integrating these medication administration technologies (MATs) into the inpatient workflow is linked with reducing medication errors.[1] [2] [3] [4] However, poor usability of MAT can negatively impact provider workflow and have unintended consequences, resulting in patient safety risks.[5] [6] A growing body of research shows the association between poor health information technology (health IT) usability and patient safety.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Therefore, it is important to expand assessing the impact of MAT from traditional metrics such as medication errors to broader measures that assess usability.

Usability refers to the features of a product that enable its users to achieve their goals effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily. Effectiveness is the extent to which users can achieve their task goals with accuracy and completeness. Efficiency refers to the relative expenditure of time and other resources to achieve task goals. Satisfaction refers to user perceptions about the product, including attitudes, beliefs, and expectations about use.[12] [13] [14] [15]

There has been a steady growth in research examining MAT usability. This research is varied in theoretical frameworks, methodology, and results. Thus, there is a need to synthesize the findings of this body of research through a systematic review.


Objectives

The objective of our systematic review was to assess BCMA and eMAR usability, operationalized as efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Our specific research questions were as follows:

  • What is the state of the science about the usability of BCMA and eMAR?

  • What research methods and designs are used to assess BCMA and eMAR usability?

  • What is the quality of the research conducted on BCMA and eMAR usability?


Methods

We used Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines to evaluate the usability of studies generating quantitative data on nurse-facing MAT, specifically BCMA, and eMAR.[16] A review protocol was not published prior to beginning this review.

Search Strategy

In consultation with medical librarians, we constructed a search strategy to retrieve peer-reviewed journal articles on BCMA and eMAR usability from scientific databases (PsycInfo and MEDLINE searched from 1946 to August 20, 2019; EMBASE searched from 1974 to October 23, 2019; see [Supplementary Appendix 1] [available in the online version] for search strategy).


Inclusion Criteria

We included articles that met all of the following criteria: (1) empirical; (2) peer-reviewed journal article; (3) include a nurse-facing MAT (i.e., eMAR, BCMA); (4) if participants were recruited, the sample includes nurses; (5) data collection in an inpatient setting or its simulation; (6) measures relate to effectiveness outcomes (e.g., medication errors), work efficiency, or nurse satisfaction; (7) dependent variables (DVs) include at least one quantitative measure (e.g., counts, scores, percentages, times); (8) article published in English; and (9) article published after 1990. No articles were excluded for scientific quality because research method quality assessment was one of our primary research questions.


Data Extraction

All levels of review, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed by reviewers with advanced training in human factors engineering or usability.

Title and Abstract Review

Two reviewers independently screened 300 titles and abstracts through Covidence,[17] a software to support conducting systematic reviews, and resolved discrepancies through discussion. The inclusion/exclusion criteria evolved during this process to refine the identification of studies relevant to our review's specific research questions and objectives. Refinement broadened the included study methods from traditional human factors measures (e.g., workload evaluations) to more general measures used in patient safety research (e.g., incident reports). We also refined our exclusion criteria to exclude studies published before 1990 to evaluate the usability of MAT systems that most closely adhere to the capabilities of current systems. Outcome measures focused on adverse drug events were excluded since they were likely to capture atypical and nonrepresentative workflows. We also excluded studies that described MAT implementation without reporting on usability measures. All criteria were vetted and validated by clinical and human factors experts of the research team. Reviewers independently reviewed the remaining articles using the final review criteria before reconvening in pairs; discrepancies were resolved through discussion until consensus.


Full-Text Review

Full text reviews were conducted in two stages. First, articles that failed to meet the inclusion criteria upon full-text review were excluded. Second, two pairs of reviewers independently extracted details about the methodology and data analysis through a REDCap survey.[18] [19] For the remaining articles, we extracted the following nominal data: MAT type (i.e., BCMA or eMAR), implementation setting (e.g., country, number of institutions, departments), participant characteristics, research design, procedure, quantitative data analysis methods, results, and quantitative DVs.

When results were presented by subtasks (e.g., time to complete individual tasks) and aggregated tasks (e.g., total time to complete medication administration), we prioritized aggregated results. Additionally, when multiple results existed for a single DV (e.g., item-wise survey results), we prioritized results highlighted by authors in the abstract and discussion (e.g., aggregated survey results mapped to constructs).


Data Synthesis

After data extraction, studies with similar DVs were grouped into specific categories (e.g., medication error, task time) to facilitate the comparison of similar data. These specific categories were then grouped together based on the cardinal usability categories: effectiveness, efficiency, and/or satisfaction. Effectiveness-focused DVs measured the user's ability to leverage technology to achieve task goals, including accuracy (e.g., medication error/accuracy) and compliance with MAT after implementation. Efficiency-focused DVs measured the technology's use of resources, including task completion time and task completion metrics (e.g., task count). Satisfaction-focused DVs measured nurses' perceptions about the technology (e.g., satisfaction, perceived ease of use).[12] [13] [14] [15] [20] Articles with more than one DV could be included in more than one cardinal usability category and specific category.

Finally, results within each method were organized based on the polarity of the MAT's impact (i.e., positive, neutral, negative) on outcomes (e.g., medication error reduction is a positive impact; increase in medication administration time is a negative impact). A meta-analysis was deemed inappropriate due to the variety of methods, DVs, and their operationalizations in terms of specific measures.



Quality Assessment

We assessed research quality using a modified version of the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument (MERSQI).[21] Modifications included additional criteria for sampling method (e.g., randomized, snowball sampling), additional criteria for data collection reliability, and removing analysis of outcomes. We coded the research design, sampling, validity, reliability, and data analysis. Articles could score between 10 (high quality) and 1 (low quality). Two reviewers independently coded 15% of the articles (n = 6) with the modified MERSQI. After achieving a kappa of 0.71, indicating substantial inter-rater reliability, articles were coded by a single coder.



Results

[Fig. 1] shows the PRISMA chart depicting how many articles were included and excluded per review phase.

Zoom
Fig. 1 PRISMA diagram illustrating screening process of identifying articles with quantitative measures of eMAR and BCMA usability

After finalizing the 41 articles, we first characterize the frequency of the MAT type and the setting of use. Next, we organize results by the three cardinal usability categories: effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction. Within each category, we then list the specific DVs and organize results by the study design.

Overview

[Supplementary Appendix 2] (available in the online version) contains data extracted for each study. Of the 41 articles, twenty-four (58.5%) investigated BCMA usability only, 10 (24.4%) investigated eMAR only, and seven (17.1%) investigated MAT (both BCMA and eMAR). Thirty articles (73.1%) reported unit-specific MAT usage (e.g., intensive care, medical-surgical, simulation lab, acute care, emergency department, rehab, telemetry) and specialties (e.g., oncology and surgery). Eleven articles (26.8%) reported institution-wide data.

[Fig. 2] depicts the link between three cardinal usability dimensions on the left-hand side with specific DVs (center) and data collection methods (right-hand side). The thickness of the bands indicates the number of articles measuring that specific category. Thus, effectiveness and satisfaction were used in more articles than efficiency, medication error was measured in more articles compared to other DVs, and more articles used observations and surveys compared to other methods. Articles had a median of 1 DV (range = 1–5) related to usability, resulting in a total of 100 DVs identified across the 41 final articles. Twenty-five articles (61.0%) reported one DV, six articles (14.6%) reported two, seven articles (17.1%) reported three, two articles (4.9%) reported four, and one article (2.4%) reported five DVs related to usability. Twenty-four articles (58.5%) contained DVs related to effectiveness, 8 (19.5%) to efficiency, and 17 (41.5%) to satisfaction. Five methods were used for data collection, including observations (n = 19, 46.3%), surveys (n = 17, 41.5%), patient safety event (PSE) reports (n = 9, 22.0%), BCMA surveillance data (n = 6, 14.6%), and audit (n = 3, 7.3%). Of the 100 dependent measures, approximately half of the measures of effectiveness (n = 23, 52.3%) found improvement (e.g., error reduction, increased compliance, better information accuracy) after BCMA and/or eMAR implementation, 45.5% (n = 20) of effectiveness measures found no change, and 2.27% (n = 1) of effectiveness measures found an increase in medication errors after implementation. Measures of efficiency found mixed results with 27.3% (n = 3) reporting improved efficiency after BCMA and/or eMAR implementation, 45.5% (n = 5) reporting efficiency unchanged, and 27.3% (n = 3) reporting reduced efficiency. Improved satisfaction after BCMA and/or eMAR implementation was reported in 62.2% (n = 28) of measures, while 24.4% (n = 11) and 13.3% (n = 6) reported neutral and negative outcomes, respectively.

Zoom
Fig. 2 Visualization of the dependent variables by usability category and method.

Effectiveness

Twenty-four articles (58.5%) reported MAT effectiveness through the following DVs: medication errors (n = 23, 56.1%), compliance (n = 2, 8.3%), and information accuracy (n = 1, 4.2%).

Medication Error

Twenty-three of the 24 articles that reported effectiveness (95.8%) measured medication error using direct observation, electronic health record (EHR) audits, patient safety reports, and analysis of BCMA surveillance data. Eleven of the 23 articles measuring medication error (47.8%) computed medication error rate by observations by comparing observed opportunities for error with the number of errors witnessed.[22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] Nine articles (of 23, 39.1%) reported the number of PSE as a proxy for medication errors.[27] [29] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] Six articles (of 23, 26.1%) reviewed BCMA surveillance data to identify medication errors via alerts.[29] [37] [40] [41] [42] [43] Two articles (of 23, 8.7%) used a prospective medical record audit to identify medication error rates.[42] [44]

Interrupted time series (ITS) design: one study (of 23, 4.3%) using this design found no significant difference in the medication error rate before and after eMAR implementation.[26]

Pretest/posttest design: seventeen articles (of 23, 73.9%) reported medication error rates before and after MAT implementation. Fourteen articles reported a reduction in the medication error rate (range = 22.5–80.7) after implementing BCMA,[22] [23] [24] [28] [30] [34] [38] [42] eMAR,[32] [36] [44] or BCMA and eMAR.[25] [29] [31] [39] One article reported a 1.12% increase in medication accuracy after MAT implementation.[31] Five articles reported no significant effect of MAT implementation on medication errors[28] [29] [33] [35] [38]; one article reported a 14.7% increase in medication error rate after BCMA implementation.[42]

Posttest-only design: seven articles (of 23, 30.4%) reported medication error rates after MAT implementation. One article reported an observed error rate of 5%. The same article also reported seven PSE reports at least 1 month after MAT implementation.[27] One article reported zero medication PSE reports being submitted before or after MAT implementation.[37] Five studies identified BCMA alert rates ranging from 0.073 to 42%.[29] [37] [41] [42] [43] One study found no significant difference between alerts using portable versus wall-mounted BCMA.[40]

Error type: eight articles (of 23, 34.8%) reporting medication error rates excluded a specific type of medication error, such as documentation errors,[24] errors involving intravenous medications,[25] wrong time errors,[28] [29] [30] [31] omission due to medication unavailability,[26] and wrong technique errors.[29] Two articles (of 23, 8.7%) identified only one medication error type, such as wrong-patient errors,[38] wrong drug errors,[38] and adverse drug events.[42] All articles found a reduction in specific types of medication errors after BCMA implementation.


Compliance

Two studies out of the 24 that reported effectiveness (8.3%) evaluated the nurse's compliance with MAT. One study using observation found that bedside use of BCMA increased 58.9% after implementation.[33] A second study using BCMA surveillance data and a posttest-only design found greater than 90% usage with wall-mounted and portable BCMA after implementation.[40]


Information Accuracy

One article out of the 24 (4.2%) measuring effectiveness through EHR audits found medication information more accurate in the eMAR than paper but did not quantify the amount by which accuracy increased.[45]



Efficiency

Eight articles (19.5%) reported efficiency-related measures of MAT. All eight articles (100%) measured the DV of task time. One article (of 8, 12.5%) measured task count, and one (of 8, 12.5%) measured scan attempts.

Task Time

All eight articles measuring efficiency (100%) used observation to measure time to complete medication administration using MAT. The studies differed in the types of tasks comprising the medication administration workflow.

Randomized controlled trial (RCT): one of the eight studies measuring task time (12.5%) found no difference in time to complete medication administration using a wall-tethered BCMA system compared to a handheld BCMA system in a simulated setting.[46]

Pretest/posttest design: five studies (of 8, 62.5%) compared task time before and after MAT implementation. One study found a 20% decrease in task time after MAT implementation.[25] Two studies did not find a significant time difference using eMAR versus paper MAR.[47] [48] Two articles reported a 27.4 and 42.0% respective increase in medication administration time after eMAR implementation.[36] [45] One study found nursing time on medication tasks outside of drug rounds increased by 36.1% after MAT implementation.[25]

Posttest-only design: two studies (of 8, 25.0%) compared hospital unit outcomes after BCMA implementation. One article reported that nurses using BCMA spent 30.4% less time on medication-related tasks than the non-BCMA control group.[49] One study found no significant time difference when administering medications with portable versus wall-mounted BCMA.[40]


Task Count

One observation study out of eight measuring efficiency (12.5%) found that the average number of medication tasks reduced by 51.2% after eMAR implementation.[47]


Scan Attempts

One study out of eight measuring efficiency (12.5%) found no significant difference in scan attempts with a wall-tethered versus a handheld BCMA system.[46]



Satisfaction

Seventeen articles (41.5%) reported satisfaction-related measures. The most common DV was general satisfaction, measured by 8 of 17 studies (47.1%). Seven studies measured perceived ease of use (of 17, 41.2%), five measured perceived timeliness (of 17, 29.4%), five measured perceived usefulness (of 17, 29.4%), five measured safety (of 17, 29.4%), three measured behavioral intention (of 17, 17.6%), and two measured workload (of 17, 11.8%).

All 17 studies used surveys to measure their DVs. See [Table 1] for details. Since many studies used Likert scale surveys that varied in constructs and response options, we could not quantify the overall change in the construct measured unless reported by the study. Six studies (of 17, 35.3%) used validated surveys, including the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire,[50] [51] the Perceived Social Influence (SI) questionnaire,[52] the Medication Administration System-Nurses Assessment of Satisfaction (MAS-NAS),[53] the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction,[54] [55] and the Post Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ).[56] Eleven studies (of 17, 64.7%) used novel surveys. Two articles (of 17, 11.8%) did not describe the surveys used for the study.

Table 1

Survey constructs, validation metrics, and reliability metrics of included articles

Survey used

Constructs

Article

Validity

Reliability

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)[50] [51]

Perceived ease of use (PEOU)

Perceived usefulness (PU)

Behavioral intention to use (BI)

Darawad et al[59]

Song et al[66]

Holden et al[62]

Generated by a literature search

Evaluated using cognitive interviewing and categorization tasks

Cronbach's alpha:

Ease of use: 0.94

Usefulness: 0.98

Medication Administration System-Nurses Assessment of Satisfaction (MAS-NAS)[53]

Satisfaction (efficacy, safety, access)

Darawad et al[59]

Hurley et al[58]

Evaluated by an expert review and focus group

Pilot tested

Factors analysis

Cronbach's alpha: 0.86

Perceived Social Influence (SI)[52]

Perceived social influence (SI) (also known as subjective norms, SN)

Holden et al[62]

Validity scale assessment

Cronbach's alpha: 0.86

Post Study System Usability Questionnaire (PSSUQ)[56]

System usefulness

Information quality

Interface quality

Landman et al[46]

Generated by usability experts

Factors analysis

Coefficient alpha: 0.97

Subscale coefficient alpha: 0.91–0.96

Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction[54] [55]

General satisfaction

Screen

Terminology and system information

Learning

System capabilities

Staggers et al[61]

Factors analysis

Cronbach's alpha: 0.94

Interitem alpha values: 0.93–0.94

Darawad, Othman, & Alosta Novel Survey

Satisfaction with received BCMA training

Level of comfort while using the BCMA

Level of competency using a computer at work

Perception of job productivity enhanced by BCMA

Overall rating of BCMA by nurses

Darawad et al[59]

Not described

Not described

Dasgupta et al Novel Survey

Perceptions of workflow ease

Perceptions of barriers during medication administration

Dasgupta et al[64]

Generated by a literature search

Not described

Gaucher & Greer Novel Survey

Nurses' attitudes toward the unit dose system and computerized MAR

Gaucher and Greer

Developed by a pharmacist and nurse

Pilot tested

Not described

Holden et al 2011 Novel Survey

Perceptions of:

Accuracy

Usefulness

Consistency

Time efficiency

Ease of Performance

Error likelihood

Error detection likelihood

Holden et al[63]

Evaluated using expert review and cognitive interviewing

0.92 (reported in Karsh et al)

Holden et al 2012 Novel Survey

Perceived usefulness for patient care

Perceived social influence from patient/family

Satisfaction

Holden et al[62]

Evaluated using cognitive interviewing

Average variance: 0.26

Cronbach's alpha: 0.73

Holden et al 2015 Novel Survey

Perceptions of:

External mental workload

Internal mental workload

Medication administration error likelihood

Unit level medication error likelihood

Unit level ADE likelihood

Holden et al[69]

Evaluated using cognitive interviewing

Cronbach's alpha: 0.71 and 0.72

Lin, Lee, & Mills Novel Survey

System quality

Information quality

Service quality

Overall user satisfaction

Usage benefits

Lin et al[34]

Content validity index

Relevance: 0.90

Text clarity: 0.84

Cronbach's alpha: 0.85

Ludwig-Beymer et al Novel Survey

Medication administration

Patient care

Ease of use

Computer availability

Reliability of technology

Ludwig-Beymer et al[40]

Evaluated using expert review

Content validity index: 0.94

Survey completed twice by same nurses 2 weeks apart

Maydana et al Novel Survey

Ease of use

Weight of scanner

System utility

Interference with patient care

Training

Support

Level of satisfaction with the system

Suggestions

Maydana et al[65]

Not described

Not described

Moreland et al Novel Survey

Nurse workload

Teamwork

Ease of documentation

Drug interactions Accuracy

Patient safety

Satisfaction

Moreland et al[57]

Content validity index: 0.92

Cronbach's alpha: 0.92

Morriss et al Novel Survey

Learning to use the system

Nurses' opinions of effectiveness of the BCMA system

Nurses' opinions of the alerts issued by the system

Effect of the BCMA System on nursing:

Workflow

Workarounds

Professionalism

Job satisfaction

Diffusion of innovation

Acceptance of technology

Morriss et al[60]

Not described

Not described

Not described

Not described

Mitchell et al[45]

Tsai et al

Not described

Not described

Abbreviations: ADE, adverse drug event; BCMA, bar-coded medication administration; MAR, medication administration record.


General Satisfaction

Eight of the 17 articles (47.1%) measured nurses' general satisfaction with MAT.

Pretest/posttest design: two of the eight studies measuring general satisfaction (25.0%) found increased nurse satisfaction after eMAR[57] and MAT implementation.[58] One study found a positive association between eMAR documentation and nurse satisfaction.[57]

Posttest-only design: six studies (of 8, 75.0%) investigated nurses' satisfaction after MAT implementation, of which four found increased nurse's satisfaction.[45] [59] [60] [61] One study found that perceived satisfaction was predicted by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness for the patient, and perceived social pressure from patients and families to use BCMA.[62] Another study found information quality of BCMA predicted satisfaction.[34] Only one article reported low nurse satisfaction with BCMA.[62]


Perceived Ease of Use

Seven of the 17 articles (41.2%) measured nurses' perceived usefulness of BCMA.

RCT: one of the seven studies that measured perceived ease of use (14.3%) found that 95% of nurses perceived a handheld BCMA system as easy to use in a simulated setting.[46]

Pretest/posttest design: one study (of 7, 14.3%) found that nurses' perceptions about the ease of documentation decreased after BCMA implementation.[63]

Posttest-only design: five studies (of 7, 71.4%) evaluated BCMA's perceived ease of use only after implementation. Three articles reported that nurses perceived BCMA as easy to use.[62] [64] [65] One article reported that “feedback about errors” positively influenced BCMA ease of use.[66] One study found no difference between the ease of use of portable BCMA versus wall-mounted BCMA.[40]


Perceived Timeliness

Five of the 17 articles (29.4%) measured nurses' perceived usefulness of MAT. Two of the five studies that measured perceived timeliness (40.0%) used a pretest/posttest design. One article reported that most nurses believed BCMA would reduce working times.[67] One study found decreased perceptions of documentation time efficiency with BCMA after implementation.[63] Three studies (of 5, 60.0%) used a posttest-only design: one article reported that most nurses believed eMAR would reduce working times[68]; a second study found that about half of the nurses strongly agreed that BCMA improved the timeliness of medication[64]; the third study found that most nurses believed BCMA required more time than their previous paper system.[60]


Perceived Usefulness

Five of the 17 articles (29.4%) measured the perceived usefulness of BCMA. Two of the five studies (40.0%) using a pretest/posttest design found that nurses perceived BCMA as a useful tool that helped with patient care.[63] [67] One article reported that nurses negatively perceived usefulness of BCMA regarding medication documentation.[63] Three studies (of 5, 60.0%) used a posttest-only design. One article reported that the usefulness of BCMA was predicted by “feedback about communication and errors.”[66] One article reported that permanent bedside BCMAs were more readily available than portable BCMA.[40] One article reported that nurses negatively perceived BCMA's overall usefulness.[62]


Perceived Safety

Five of the 17 articles (29.4%) measured nurses' perceived safety of MAT. Three of the five studies (60.0%) using a pretest/posttest design found that nurses perceived improved care safety with BCMA.[63] [67] [69] One article reported an association between high external workload and perceived medication safety events, and that improvements to perceived medication safety decayed to the pre-BCMA level over time.[69] Two articles using a posttest-only design (of 5, 40.0%) reported that nurses perceived improved care safety with the introduction of BCMA or eMAR.[60] [68]


Behavioral Intention to Use

Three of the 17 articles (17.6%) using a posttest-only design measured nurses' behavioral intention to use MAT. Two articles reported that nurses had a high behavioral intention to use BCMA.[62] [68] Two articles reported constructs associated with behavioral intention to use BCMA, including perceived ease of use,[62] perceived social influence,[62] unit teamwork,[66] perceived usefulness for patient care,[62] and perceived usefulness more generally.[66]


Perceived Workload

Two of the 17 articles (11.8%) measured nurses' perceived workflow barriers using BCMA. One of the two studies (50.0%) using a pre/post design found BCMA increased external mental workload (e.g., interruptions, divided attention, and being rushed during medication management tasks) but decreased internal mental workload (e.g., requirements for concentration and mental effort during medication management tasks) after implementation.[69] The other posttest-only study (of 2, 50.0%) found that half of the nurses strongly agreed that BCMA resulted in less workload.[64]



Quality Scores

The median quality score was 5.50 (range = 1.50–8.25). Articles with DVs related to effectiveness had the highest scores (median = 5.50; range = 3.00–8.00), followed by efficiency (median = 5.20; range = 3.00–8.25), then satisfaction (median = 5; range = 1.25–8.25).

Research Design

A weak research design was the main reason for low-quality scores. [Fig. 3] shows the research designs classified by the cardinal usability category. Researchers frequently use pretest/posttest designs, but only a minority of studies use the more rigorous research design of the RCT. One study used an RCT design (2.4%), and another used an ITS design (2.4%). Twenty-one articles (51.2%) used a pretest/posttest design, of which 11 (of 21, 52.4%) measured a single group, eight (of 21, 38.1%) measured two or more nonrandomized groups, and one (of 21, 4.8%) measured a single group for one DV and two or more nonrandomized groups for another DV. Fourteen articles (34.1%) used a posttest-only design, of which eight (of 14, 57.1%) measured a single group and six (42.9%) measured two or more nonrandomized groups. Four articles (9.8%) used pretest/posttest and posttest-only designs for different DVs.

Zoom
Fig. 3 Number of distinct articles by usability category and study design.

Sampling Procedure

Many studies had generalizability limitations due to setting (35 articles [85.4%] conducted at a single institution) and sampling methodologies (i.e., convenience sampling).


Validity of Data Collection

Validity of data collection instruments was variable and dependent on the data collection method. Observation and audit methods typically had clearly defined variables and structured data collection forms. Five of the seventeen (29.4%) studies using surveys did not report content, criterion, or construct validity of the survey tool. Multiple articles did not differentiate true BCMA alerts from errant alerts. PSE reports typically represent an underestimation of any institution's total number of errors.


Reliability of Data Collection

The reliability of the data collection methods was poor across most studies. Observations, audits, and surveys developed by the studies' authors sometimes failed to report reliability metrics (e.g., observer training, Cohen's kappa, Cronbach's alpha). Seven of the 17 (41.2%) survey studies did not report the reliability of the survey instrument. The reliability of BCMA data was not evaluated against other sources. None of the articles using PSE reports described reliability calculation procedures for event classification, selecting and categorizing MAT-relevant errors from PSE reports (e.g., medication stocking errors that occurred in pharmacy should not be included in MAT error counts).


Data Analysis

Data analysis methods were highly variable across studies. Many studies measuring continuous variables through observations and EHR audits favored using statistics for nominal data over more appropriate inferential statistics. Many methods (e.g., PSE reports, BCMA surveillance data) were exclusively summarized through descriptive statistics.




Discussion

Although we initially extracted 1,922 articles, our systematic screening approach resulted in only 41 studies reaching the stage of data extraction based on quantitative operationalization of the cardinal usability categories (e.g., effectiveness, efficiency, satisfaction) of their DVs. This highlights that although research may be tagged with variables approximating constructs of usability, studies that perform the necessary operationalization of usability constructs may be limited. The research on BCMA usability (n = 24 studies) is extensive compared to eMAR (n = 10) and BCMA and eMAR (n = 7). A plurality of the research investigates usability DVs related to effectiveness (n = 24) and satisfaction (n = 17); only a handful of studies investigate efficiency (n = 8). Articles used five methods: observation, audit logs, PSE reports, BCMA surveillance, and surveys; however, there was substantial variation in how data collection methods were implemented across articles.

Many findings mirror those from previous systematic reviews.[70] [71] [72] [73] [74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] Previous reviews found minimal published research on MAT, especially compared to the extensive research on physician-facing technologies like computerized physician order entry. More reviews focused on BCMA technology rather than eMAR or other nurse-facing health IT, and most reviews focused on the impact of MAT on medication error. In contrast, there has been lesser attention paid to how MAT design affects its intended use and the important impact of MAT usability on nursing workflow and satisfaction.

Recommendations for Future Research Focus

The outcomes of quantitative measures of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction are varied. Approximately half of the studies measuring effectiveness found a reduction in medication error rates after MAT implementation. Measures of efficiency, such as task time, found mixed results. Measures of satisfaction indicated largely positive or neutral perceptions of MAT. Through these varied methods and results, we identified the following areas of focus for future research.


Increase Studies Focusing on eMAR

Articles focused on BCMA were more than double those investigating eMAR. In contrast to BCMA, eMAR may be perceived as an electronic interpretation of a long-familiar health care tool: the paper MAR. However, porting a paper tool into an electronic form is not simple and can lead to unintended consequences. More research is needed on eMAR usability to identify these unintended consequences and optimize the efficiency of existing eMAR technologies.


Increase Research on MAT Efficiency

Another noteworthy finding is that 89% of the articles focus on the usability categories of effectiveness and satisfaction. Although these foci made sense in the landscape where the health care community needed to know whether these new technologies could perform their intended tasks, it is becoming clear that inefficiencies associated with using health IT, such as prolonged documentation time and the time cost in recovering from automation surprises,[80] [81] [82] can contribute to clinician frustration and burnout.[11] [83] [84] Thus, there is an increasing need to shift the research focus from effectiveness to efficiency to address clinician cognitive needs in medication management.[85] [86]


Increase Use of Novel Research Methods in Usability

Quantitative MAT research uses five primary methods of data collection: observation, audit, PSE reports, BCMA surveillance, and survey. There is tremendous scope to broaden the range of research questions and quantitative metrics about MAT usability through novel methods such as eye tracking,[83] physiological response (e.g., heart rate),[87] and user interaction data (e.g., keyboard and mouse input).[88]


Investigate the Effect of MAT Usability on Patient Outcomes

This systematic review focused on the nurse-facing usability of MAT. While research shows poor usability can lead to patient safety issues,[7] [8] [9] this systematic review did not investigate the impact of usability issues on patient outcomes. Future research should investigate the impact of poor MAT usability on patient outcomes.


Improve Rigor of Research Methods

Similar to previous systematic reviews on MAT and medication errors, we found wide variation in research designs used by the studies included in our review. Only one out of the 41 articles used a RCT. Pretest/posttest designs are currently most frequently used in MAT evaluations. Although the pretest/posttest design is a good starting point, future research should attempt to control the selection and assignment of participants to study conditions more systematically and control confounding variables through the use of RCTs.


Standardize Methodological Reporting to Ensure Interpretation and Replication

Our review found wide variability in the operationalization, measurement, and reporting of methodological and procedural details. This variability complicates the direct comparison between studies that is essential for a meta-analysis and makes replication challenging. Definitions and measures of medication management tasks vary for the same study method and across studies. For example, there may be variation in the definition of medication error, with some studies counting errors precluded because of using MAT and some studies excluding errors caught by MAT. There is also considerable ambiguity in decomposing the impact of medication errors on patient outcomes in terms of harm events versus near-misses. In addition, many studies do not report the interval between implementation and measurement and the duration of data collection, making it difficult to understand the effects of MAT on short- and long-term usage metrics. Studies also used different definitions for clinical processes, making it difficult to compare findings. For example, one study began medication administration total time by starting the clock when the nurse entered the patient's room.[46] However, another study also counted tasks outside the patient room (e.g., reviewing medications).[47] Researchers should develop and test standardized use cases to accomplish critical and routine tasks on the BCMA and eMAR to facilitate comparison across studies.


Define MAT Design Requirements

BCMA and eMAR are nearly ubiquitous in health care, so research needs to optimize these technologies. Optimization strategies could include standardized functional and design requirements, a common practice with medication order entry technologies that do not currently exist for MAT. Most articles do not describe their EHR vendor and MAT design customizations at individual sites, making it difficult to link specific design elements with MAT usability. Because the design of MAT is integral to its usability and success, future research should describe the EHR vendor, version, and customizations of MAT, and move toward building critical functional requirements to optimize MAT's effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction.


Policy Implications

Lessons learned from this review have policy implications. First, federal agencies and other organizations funding research on MAT may want to consider encouraging researchers to use similar measurement methods and provide greater methodological detail. In addition, some of these best practices may inform usability testing requirements that the Food and Drug Administration and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology already have in place for certain medical devices and health IT. Those organizations overseeing medical devices and health IT could identify environments in which the benefits of MAT are being realized and seek to share those results more broadly with other health care facilities.


Limitations

This systematic review should be interpreted with the following limitations: (1) The research on MAT usability is conducted with diverse methods that yield quantitative, numeric data and qualitative, thematic data. We intentionally chose to limit our review to studies yielding quantitative data because it was difficult to summarize quantitative and qualitative data together meaningfully. However, future studies should synthesize MAT research using qualitative methods such as interviews and usability evaluations to investigate how important usability facets affect workflow and perceptions about the technology. (2) Our results may be constrained by our search strategy and databases. (3) The studies used in this review did not uniformly describe at which point in the MAT implementation cycle measures were obtained (i.e., immediately after implementation vs. delayed measures). Consequently, direct comparisons between study outcomes should be made with caution. (4) Most articles included in this review contain data from settings based in the United States, potentially limiting the generalizability of our results to other countries. (5) Our review identified a variety of research designs, sampling strategies, dependent measures, and their operationalizations. Assessments of study quality in traditional medical research do not sufficiently capture this type of variation that generally occurs in studies of health IT usability. Therefore, we modified an existing tool, the MERSQI for quality assessments. Future research should develop tools that can suitably capture the broad variety of research in health IT evaluation and address quality. (6) This systematic review focuses on the nurse-facing usability of MAT. Future research will need to be performed to understand other clinicians who use MAT and the impact of MAT usability on patient outcomes.



Conclusion

This systematic review aimed to identify the state of the science, study methods, and quality of articles investigating BCMA and eMAR usability. The 41 included articles primarily focus on BCMA and measures of effectiveness and satisfaction. Study quality varies substantially. Future research should focus on eMAR usability, with a specific focus on efficiency, and should expand research designs and methods that generate generalizable MAT design requirements.


Clinical Relevance Statement

Unusable technologies increase work time, create unnecessary redundancies, and lead to clinician burnout. As the primary users of MAT, nurses take on the burden when eMAR and BCMA are not designed to be usable. This research identifies current gaps in the literature, including MAT efficiency, eMAR usability and use of novel quantitative methodologies, and identifies improvements that can be made to research reporting.


Multiple-Choice Questions

  1. Which of the following are consequences of poor usability in medication administration technologies (MAT)?

    • Patient safety risks

    • Increased task time

    • Clinician burnout

    • All of the above

    Correct Answer: The correct answer is option d. All of the above. Usability refers to a product's features that enable users to achieve their goals effectively, efficiently, and satisfactorily. Although MAT is designed to increase patient safety, poor usability can lead to patient safety risks, especially if the technology creates barriers to work tasks and users must implement workarounds. Poor usability can also create inefficiencies when using MAT, such as increased documentation time and time lost recovering from automation surprises. Prior research shows that the time and frustration associated with unusable technologies contribute to clinician burnout.

  2. In the quantitative articles reviewed, what was the most common dependent variable?

    • Medication error

    • Task time

    • Task count

    • General satisfaction

    Correct Answer: The correct answer is option a. Medication error. Twenty-three studies measured medication error, eight measured task time, one measured task count, and eight measured general satisfaction. In the discussion, we suggest that medication error has historically been the most important metric for MAT success as it was recently a new, minimally tested technology. Satisfaction measures may also be common, as surveys are much easier and cheaper investigation methods when compared to observation. Task time and task count comprise the smallest category of quantitative dependent variables, suggesting a gap in current literature and a direction for future research.



Conflict of Interest

None declared.

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank Layla Heimlich and her fellow Medical Librarians at MedStar Washington Hospital Center for their help in crafting and running database searches.

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

Human and/or animal subjects were not included in this research.


* Joint first authors.


Supplementary Material


Address for correspondence

Zoe M. Pruitt, MA
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United States   

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 17. August 2022

Angenommen: 20. Dezember 2022

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
08. März 2023

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Fig. 1 PRISMA diagram illustrating screening process of identifying articles with quantitative measures of eMAR and BCMA usability
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Fig. 2 Visualization of the dependent variables by usability category and method.
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Fig. 3 Number of distinct articles by usability category and study design.