BACKGROUND
Reliable, current and easily accessible pregnancy and breastfeeding medicines information at the point-of-care is essential for clinical decision making. However, updating hardcopy references in a timely manner is challenging given the current technological landscape. Consequently, an online medicines information resource was developed by pharmacists at a specialist maternity hospital to respond to the needs of healthcare professionals who require up-to-date information at the time of prescribing or counselling.
AIM
To evaluate the reliability and usability of a new online resource and identify areas for improvement.
METHODS
Healthcare professionals including, doctors, pharmacists, midwives, nurses and dietitians were selected by convenience sampling. Participants (n=63) were provided online access for two weeks and asked to complete 10 questions via an online survey. Feedback on ease of use, reliability, value, and intended frequency of use were obtained.
RESULTS
A 48% (n=30) response rate was achieved with all participants accessing the resource via laptop/desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Over half of respondents (n=19, 59%) indicated they would use this resource at least once a week.
The majority of respondents indicated the quality of information was excellent (n=16, 53%) and very good (n=10, 33%). Nearly all respondents thought reliability of information was excellent (n=13, 43%) or very good (n=16, 53%) and the majority (n=26, 87%) strongly agreed that it would be a valuable addition to their resource library.
Almost all respondents indicated website design was excellent or very good (n=25, 83%); ease of navigation was excellent or very good (n=22, 73%) and thought ease of use was excellent (n=22, 73%).
Respondents’ comments for areas of improvement included incorporating more advanced search functionality and addition of complementary medicines.
All respondents agreed that this resource was targeted appropriately to healthcare professionals.
CONCLUSION
While the majority of respondents found the online resource to be of high quality, reliable and relevant, improvements are planned and essential to ensure the resource remains up-to-date and continues to meet health professionals’ needs.