Objectives: The main purpose of the study was to investigate the usability of a new developed instrument designed to assess the content and quality in programs for new healthcare environments (CQB-I). We studied the perception of using the instrument on a group of space-planners. The study is part of a larger project designed to assure the quality of early and main stages of the planning of new care environments with a focus on policy documents (programs or briefs), created in the early phases of the planning process. The instrument measures whether there is a clear mission statement for the project based on user needs and care activities that will take place in the new healthcare environment. Furthermore, the instrument measures if there are clear patient-related outcome measures specified and if the information in the documents is person-oriented and knowledge-based.

Method: The study used a mixed method where the relevance and usability of the instrument was estimated and a focus group interview was conducted.

Findings: The study showed that CQB-I perceived to be a relevant instrument primarily as a guide for programming, but also for monitoring the produced programs.  Instruments can help to bring research results into planning and contribute to dialogue and collaboration in the early stages by orienting process of user needs, discuss and write down clear performance indicators and related quality assurance process.