This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I focuses on the development of a systematic methodology for the usability study of academic electronic health records (EHR) systems to guide the development of iCare, an academic EHR clinical simulation tool, with the aim to provide undergraduate and graduate students nationwide with exposure to, and experience in utilizing EHRs. To determine the feasibility of iCare, the project will examine its usability using Neilsen's Usability Model to guide the testing with faculty and health care students through focus groups, following eXtreme Programming development process. With EHRs penetrating the health care sector, new graduates must be proficient in using EHRs prior to entering the workforce. Currently, there are over 3,000 nursing schools in the U.S., with approximately 400,000 students enrolled annually and only 1% of these schools with access to academic EHRs. This Phrase I project will seamlessly integrate research and education through the commercialization of iCare and the findings and insights with focus group studies aiming to close the competency gaps between preparing health care students and accessing state-of-the-art EHRs to train health care professionals
