Family medicine practices form the basis of the Croatian health system. They solve the largest number of health problems and collect the most health data with the lowest operational cost. However, the software support required for the running of these offices at the time being is still certified only based on the principal communication criteria, while all other essential functionalities are generally uneven and left to the will of the producers. It is necessary to assess the quality of this type of software. Based on previous theoretical and experimental research in this area, the initial quality assessment model consisting of six basic categories and the questionnaire by which the Croatian family physicians evaluated the quality of the functionalities applied in their software support were made. The resulting novel model is multiple validated, comprehensive and universal. The intense ergonomic orientation of the novel measurement model was particularly emphasized.

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Background Family medicine practices (FMPs) make the basis for the Croatian health care system. Use of electronic health record (EHR) software is mandatory and it plays an important role in running these practices, but important functional features still remain uneven and largely left to the will of the software developers. Objective The objective of this study was to develop a novel and comprehensive model for functional evaluation of the EHR software in FMPs, based on current world standards, models and projects, as well as on actual user satisfaction and requirements. Methods Based on previous theoretical and experimental research in this area, we made the initial framework model consisting of six basic categories as a base for online survey questionnaire. Family doctors assessed perceived software quality by using a five-point Likert-type scale. Using exploratory factor analysis and appropriate statistical methods over the collected data, the final optimal structure of the novel model was formed. Special attention was focused on the validity and quality of the novel model. Results The online survey collected a total of 384 cases. The obtained results indicate both the quality of the assessed software and the quality in use of the novel model. The intense ergonomic orientation of the novel measurement model was particularly emphasised. Conclusions The resulting novel model is multiple validated, comprehensive and universal. It could be used to assess the user-perceived quality of almost all forms of the ambulatory EHR software and therefore useful to all stakeholders in this area of the health care informatisation.

This paper presents the process of designing, fabricating, assembling, programming and optimizing a prototype nonlinear mechatronic Ball-Plate System (BPS) as a laboratory platform for engineering education STEM. Due to the nonlinearity and complexity of BPS, the task presents challenges such as: (1) difficulty in controlling the stabilization of a particular position point, known as steady-state error, (2) position resolution, known as specific distance error, and (3) adverse environmental effects—light-shadow error, which is also discussed in this paper. The laboratory prototype BPS for education was designed, manufactured and installed at Karlovac University of Applied Sciences in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics program. The low-cost two-degree BPS uses a USB HD camera for computer vision as a feedback sensor and two DC servo motors as actuators. Due to control problems, an advanced block diagram of the control system is proposed and discussed. An open-source control system based on Python scripts, which allows the use of ready-made functions from the library, allows the color of the ball and the parameters of the PID controller to be changed, indirectly simplifying the control system and performing mathematical calculations directly. The authors will continue their research on this BPS mechatronic platform and control algorithms.

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