JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Electronic health (eHealth) systems are becoming standard care, combining technological and health innovation to provide quality care. Testing of eHealth software is important to ensure that the intervention realizes its goals. Software testing, which is comprised of alpha and beta testing, is critical to establish the effectiveness and usability of the software.

Objective:

This viewpoint aimed to identify current practices for testing software in healthcare settings.

Methods:

A rapid literature review was conducted using search terms related to eHealth software testing (e.g., “health alpha testing,” “eHealth testing,” “health app usability”) to identify best practices for testing eHealth software.

Results:

There was not a single standard framework used for software testing in healthcare settings; included articles used either different frameworks or none. Some studies misidentified alpha testing as beta testing and vice-versa. When conducting software testing, there were several different objectives (i.e. testing for safety, reliability, usability, etc.) and methods of testing (e.g. questionnaires, interviews etc.). We also found that the implementation of an iterative strategy in testing can introduce flexible and rapid changes when developing eHealth software.

Conclusions:

Further investigation into the best approach for software testing in healthcare settings would aid the development of effective and useful eHealth software.