The influence of a financial recession to the medical device market from the usability perspective

The financial crises we are going through in 2008/2009 caused by several international events are influencing all businesses worldwide. Especially the automotive industry is treated hardly by the resulting recession. The effects for the medical industry cannot be identified directly. Very often a delay can be recognized when the customers are reacting on such kind of influencing factors. Hospitals have to provide constantly a high quality of medical care for the patients. Due to the changes in the health care sector, the competition between the hospitals is increasingly high. The diagnosis related groups and the retreat of the public authorities regarding the investment grants are putting pressure on the financial management of the hospitals. New medical equipment can assure high quality care as well as extensive savings regarding the operating times, the disbursements in care as well as the service costs for the devices. Furthermore they are supporting more intense the quality management process, including the risk management, also known as critical incident reporting system (CIRS), which is becoming more and more important. All these factors are affirming the importance of the supply management for new devices in a hospital. There is a need for a specific requirement analysis before the purchase process begins. Very often the real requirements are not known or even ignored. The tender is focussing on the specification list of the competing devices and the costs. The device which is providing more functionality for the same price will be purchased even when it does not fit to the requirements of the users. The result is that the users are not able to use the device effectively due to the hyper functionality and complexity of the product. The primary operating functions cannot be recognized by the user on the first view especially in stress situations which are common in a hospital currently. Intensive analysis and discussions with the real users about the needs, the requirements as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the existing device can give valuable information about the specifications the new device has to fulfil. Questions like Why do you need especially this device or accessory?, Does another product which is used in another department fulfil the same functionality?. These investigations can also have the result that the huge variety of similar products, e.g. electrodes or in the whole medical machinery, but also in the functionality of each device can be reduced to a minimum. An infusion pump for a general ward does not have to provide the same functionality as a pump in the intensive care units. As a result, the purchased products fit to the needs of the users, the use is targeted, the ease of use is given, incidents and accidents based on use errors due to the complexity of the products can be limited. Usability studies focusing on the application specification, among other things including the intended use, the different user groups, the patient population or the conditions of use, can bring a high benefit before starting the purchasing process. It is forming a good base for the purchaser who is often not experienced with the utilization of the products he has to purchase. Finally the costs can be reduced, having in mind the real process costs, including the times for a intense training, the additional maintenance and service costs caused by the misuse or the unintended use of the device but also the product liability.
Supply Management Purchasing Process Medical Products Human Factors Usability Use Error Safety Cost Savings
T. Gruchmann
Use-Lab GmbH, Buergerkamp 3, 48565 Steinfurt, Germany
国际会议
17th World Congress on Ergonomics(第十七届国际人类工效学大会)
北京
英文
1
2009-08-09(万方平台首次上网日期,不代表论文的发表时间)