Heuristic evaluation of clinical functions in four practice management systems: a pilot study

Dentists report that the complexity and poor usability of practice management systems (PMSs) are factors in the slow adoption of computers at chair side. Three dental informatics researchers performed heuristic evaluations of four PMSs and examined the clinical user interface of each system using a published list of 10 software heuristics to identify potential usability problems that may be encountered during the clinical care process. The authors found 229 heuristic violations, with heuristics consistency and standards, match between system and the real world, and error prevention violated most commonly. The patterns of heuristic violations and potential usability problems across software packages were relatively similar. The findings provide an initial assessment of potential usability problems in four PMSs. Heuristic violations in PMSs may result in usability problems for dentists and other office personnel, reducing efficiency and effectiveness of a software implementation. Vendors should consider applying user-centered design methodologies to reduce the number of potential usability problems.