Title: Designing, developing, and testing a mobile health reservation system in the Egyptian context

Authors: Rehaballah Elbadrawy; Rasha Abdel Aziz; Miran Ismail; Nourhan Hamdi

Addresses: College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Gamal Abd El Nasser Road, Miami, P.O. 1029 Alexandria, Egypt. ' CEMS, University of the West of England, Filton Road, Bristol, BS34 8QZ, UK; 10 Mohamed Saleh Abou Youssef, Saba Pacha, Alexandria, Egypt. ' University of Wales Institute Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF24 0SP, UK; College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Gamal Abd El Nasser Road, Miami, P.O. 1029 Alexandria, Egypt. ' University of Wales Institute Cardiff, South Glamorgan, CF24 0SP, UK; College of Management and Technology, Arab Academy for Science and Technology, Gamal Abd El Nasser Road, Miami, P.O. 1029 Alexandria, Egypt

Abstract: The main subject of the research study is the implementation of m-health reservation system at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT), Egypt. The AASTMT was selected as a case university that offers health services to both staff members and students. The proposed system is based on the current electronic medical records of the academy|s staff at the clinic. The study tries to answer the research question: |What are the main usability problems that affect user experience with regards to m-health reservation system?| In order to answer the research question, usability test was developed and tested on two phases, where respondents were asked to actually reserve an appointment at the academy|s clinic and to perform typical tasks using an iPhone 3G. The experimental evaluation was carried out at a controlled laboratory environment. The experiment was recorded, analysed, and conclusions were derived.

Keywords: mobile health services; electronic health; e-health; usability tests; user interfaces; reservation systems; Egypt; m-health services; Arab Academy for Science Technology and Maritime Transport; AASTMT; universities; higher education; staff members; academic staff; university students; electronic records; medical records; clinics; user experiences; appointments; iPhone; smartphones; multimedia; mobile phones; cell phones; internet; world wide web; Apple; 3G; 3rd generation; mobile telecommunications; mobile telecommunication services; experimental evaluations; controlled environments; laboratory environments; behavioural research; healthcare research.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBHR.2011.043416

International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2011 Vol.2 No.4, pp.347 - 361

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

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