Design, development, and evaluation of an interactive training simulator for teaching hospital information systems
نویسندگان
1 Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
2 Health Information Management Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran, Department of Health Information Management and Technology, School of Allied Health Professions, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
3 Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
4 Health Information Management Research Center, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran, Department of Health Information Management and Technology, School of Allied Health Professions, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Iran
doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: In their apprenticeship program, health information technology (HIT) students aredeprived of the ample opportunity to work with the hospital information system (HIS). This studyaimed to design an interactive simulator for the HIS training and evaluate its effects on the informaticsskills of HIT students.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on 16 Bachelor of Science students ofHIT at Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2019. After the functionalities and features of thesimulator were determined based on similar existing simulators, expert opinions were received tosimulate eight important processes of admission, discharge, and transfer module in HIS. The scoresof students’ skills and time taken to perform the processes were recorded and analyzed before andafter the educational intervention. After they were trained by the simulator, the students filled out ausability evaluation questionnaire. The data were then analyzed in SPSS version 21.RESULTS: The simulators of health information systems were characterized by interactivity,multimedia applications, practice exercises, tests, and feedback. After the students were trained bythe developed simulator, their skills scores improved significantly in 75% (6/8) of the processes, andthe timespans of all processes decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The usability evaluation indicatedthe usability of the simulator was at a “good” level.CONCLUSIONS: According to the study results, using the simulator improves the informatics skillsof HIT students in working with HIS. It is recommended that this method also be used in otherapprenticeship programs to teach health information systems.
