The study presents the evaluation of the reliability of the information displayed on the user interface of a homegrown electronic patient prioritization tool dedicated to pediatric emergency department (namely Optimum). Two ergonomists shadowed physicians and nurses throughout their shift in order to (i) identify consistencies and discrepancies between the actual step of the patients in the care process and their assigned step in Optimum and (ii) to understand the causes of the discrepancies. Even if some discrepancies are noted, results show that Optimum provides a quite good reflection of the actual position of the patients in the care process. The use of ethnographic methods allows to understand the cause of the discrepancies.
Keywords: Evaluation; Human Engineering; Patient flow; Patient prioritization tool; Pediatric emergency department.