Usability evaluation of HemOnc.org, a collaborative online hematology/oncology reference.
244 Background: With an ever-growing body of medical knowledge, open access to accurate information is critical to quality care. HemOnc.org is a free online collaborative wiki created by health care professionals to record, access, and share information about chemotherapy treatment regimens and drugs. As of June 2013, the site contains referenced information for 931 regimens and 316 drugs. The site receives >7,000 visits/mo and has had >425,000 total page views from around the world (29% from outside the United States). We conducted a survey to evaluate the usability of the site. Methods: The survey was open May 1 to May 31, 2013. Participants were invited by site announcements, social media, and emails to hematology/oncology fellowship programs. Usability was assessed by 100-point scales (higher = better). Other data were collected via multiple choice questions with optional free text entry. Results: There were 139 respondents; demographics are shown in the Table. They felt that the site was useful (median 90, interquartile range (IQR) 76-99.5), usable (median 85, IQR 69-98), and recommendable to colleagues (median 87, IQR 72-99). Although 100% of users reported using other references (e.g. textbooks), 70.5% reported accuracy issues with these references (Table). Conclusions: HemOnc.org provides a new way to access and share curated knowledge. No resource is 100% accurate, but the open and transparent nature of the site allows users to actively correct errors and inconsistencies. Feedback has been positive, suggesting that an unmet need for information is being satisfied. Our goal is to improve collaboration, foster greater knowledge sharing among the oncology community, and improve quality of care through open dissemination of accurate information to a widespread audience. [Table: see text]