Smart Technologies in Healthcare: Overview of Human Factors and Infusion Pumps

Abstract

AbstractUsing advanced medical technologies is critical for augmenting clinicians’ decision-making and improving patient safety in clinical settings. Designing these automated technologies requires the rigorous application of human factors principles as they would be used by clinicians and patients alike. In this chapter, we focus on an essential and widely used medical device in healthcare: the smart infusion pump. Approximately 90% of hospital patients receive medications through the smart infusion pump. However, its increasing adoption in the US raises many human factors concerns for its end users especially because clinical settings are becoming increasingly complex and highly varied. We summarize common themes identified from the current research on human factors issues in smart infusion pump use. Key human–computer interaction principles for smart infusion pump system design are also discussed. We present a case study involving the use of visual cues for facilitating smart infusion pump drug library update. We conclude that the application of human factors to medical device design has broader impacts on patients, clinicians, researchers, hospital managements, medical device manufacturers, human factors specialists, as well as regulatory bodies.KeywordsSmart Infusion PumpHuman factorsHuman–Computer Interaction