Health Care Engineering Part I

The first chapter describes the health care delivery systems in Canada and in the U.S. This is followed by examples of various approaches used to measure physiological variables in humans, either for the purpose of diagnosis or monitoring potential disease conditions; a brief description of sensor technologies is included. The function and role of the clinical engineer in managing medical technologies in industrialized and in developing countries are presented. This is followed by a chapter on patient safety (mainly electrical safety and electromagnetic interference); it includes a section on how to minimize liability and how to develop a quality assurance program for technology management. The next chapter discusses applications of telemedicine, including technical, social, and ethical issues. The last chapter presents a discussion on the impact of technology on health care and the technology assessment process. This two-part book consolidates material that supports courses on technology development and management issues in health care institutions. It can be useful for anyone involved in design, development, or research, whether in industry, hospitals, or government.

Part II of Health Care Engineering begins with statistics on the occurrence of medical errors and adverse events, and includes some technological solutions. A chapter on electronic medical records follows. The knowledge management process divided into four steps is described; this includes a discussion on data acquisition, storage, and retrieval. The next two chapters discuss the other three steps of the knowledge management process (knowledge discovery, knowledge translation, knowledge integration and sharing). The last chapter briefly discusses usability studies and clinical trials. This two-part book consolidates material that supports courses on technology development and management issues in health care institutions. It can be useful for anyone involved in design, development, or research, whether in industry, hospitals, or government.

This Briefs Series book illustrates in depth a concept of healthcare management engineering and its domain for hospital and clinic operations. Predictive and analytic decision-making power of management engineering methodology is systematically compared to traditional management reasoning by applying both side by side to analyze 26 concrete operational management problems adapted from hospital and clinic practice. The problem types include: clinic, bed and operating rooms capacity; patient flow; staffing and scheduling; resource allocation and optimization; forecasting of patient volumes and seasonal variability; business intelligence and data mining; and game theory application for allocating cost savings between cooperating providers. Detailed examples of applications are provided for quantitative methods such as discrete event simulation, queuing analytic theory, linear and probabilistic optimization, forecasting of a time series, principal component decomposition of a data set and cluster analysis, and the Shapley value for fair gain sharing between cooperating participants. A summary of some fundamental management engineering principles is provided. The goal of the book is to help to bridge the gap in mutual understanding and communication between management engineering professionals and hospital and clinic administrators. The book is intended primarily for hospital/clinic leadership who are in charge of making managerial decisions. This book can also serve as a compendium of introductory problems/projects for graduate students in Healthcare Management and Administration, as well as for MBA programs with an emphasis in Healthcare.

Introduction to Clinical Engineering focuses on the application of engineering practice within the healthcare delivery system, often defined as clinical engineering. Readers will explore the fundamental concepts integral to the support of healthcare technology to advance medical care. The primary mission of clinical engineers is the utilization of medical devices, software, and systems to deliver safe and effective patient care throughout technology’s lifecycle. This unique and interdisciplinary workforce is part of the healthcare team and serves as the intersection between engineering and medicine. This book is aimed at practitioners, managers, students, and educators to serve as a resource that offers a broad perspective of the applications of engineering principles, regulatory compliance, lifecycle planning, systems thinking, risk analysis, and resource management in healthcare. This book is an invaluable tool for healthcare technology management (HTM) professionals and can serve as a guide for students to explore the profession in depth. Offers readers an in-depth look into the support and implementation of existing medical technology used for patient care in a clinical setting Provides insights into the clinical engineering profession, focusing on engineering principles as applied to the US healthcare system Explores healthcare technology, hospital and systems safety, information technology and interoperability with medical devices, clinical facilities management, as well as human resource management

This publication addresses the role of the biomedical engineer in the development, regulation, management, training, and use of medical devices. The first part of the book looks at the biomedical engineering profession globally as part of the health workforce: global numbers and statistics, professional classification, general education and training, professional associations, and the certification process. The second part addresses all of the different roles that the biomedical engineer can have in the life cycle of the technology, from research and development, and innovation, mainly undertaken in academia; the regulation of devices entering the market; and the assessment or evaluation in selecting and prioritizing medical devices (usually at national level); to the role they play in the management of devices from selection and procurement to safe use in healthcare facilities. The annexes present comprehensive information on academic programs, professional societies, and relevant WHO and UN documents related to human resources for health as well as the reclassification proposal for ILO. This publication can be used to encourage the availability, recognition, and increased participation of biomedical engineers as part of the health workforce, particularly following the recent adoption of the recommendations of the UN High-Level Commission on Health Employment and Economic Growth, the WHO Global Strategy on Human Resources for Health, and the establishment of national health workforce accounts. The document also supports the aim of reclassification of the role of the biomedical engineer as a specific engineer that supports the development, access, and use of medical devices within the national, regional, and global occupation classification system.

Clinical Systems Engineering: New Challenges for Future Healthcare covers the critical issues relating to the risk management and design of new technologies in the healthcare sector. It is a comprehensive summary of the advances in clinical engineering over the past 40 years, presenting guidance on compliance and safety for hospitals and engineering teams. This contributed book contains chapters from international experts, who provide their solutions, experiences, and the successful methodologies they have applied to solve common problems in the area of healthcare technology. Topics include compliance with the European Directive on Medical Devices 93/42/EEC, European Norms EN 60601-1-6, EN 62366, and the American Standards ANSI/AAMI HE75: 2009. Content coverage includes decision support systems, clinical complex systems, and human factor engineering. Examples are fully supported with case studies, and global perspective is maintained throughout. This book is ideal for clinical engineers, biomedical engineers, hospital administrators and medical technology manufacturers. Presents clinical systems engineering in a way that will help users answer many questions relating to clinical systems engineering and its relationship to future healthcare needs Explains how to assess new healthcare technologies and what are the most critical issues in their management Provides information on how to carry out risk analysis for new technological systems or medical software Contains tactics on how to improve the quality and usability of medical devices

Clinical Engineering: A Handbook for Clinical and Biomedical Engineers, Second Edition, helps professionals and students in clinical engineering successfully deploy medical technologies. The book provides a broad reference to the core elements of the subject, drawing from a range of experienced authors. In addition to engineering skills, clinical engineers must be able to work with both patients and a range of professional staff, including technicians, clinicians and equipment manufacturers. This book will not only help users keep up-to-date on the fast-moving scientific and medical research in the field, but also help them develop laboratory, design, workshop and management skills. The updated edition features the latest fundamentals of medical technology integration, patient safety, risk assessment and assistive technology. Provides engineers in core medical disciplines and related fields with the skills and knowledge to successfully collaborate on the development of medical devices, via approved procedures and standards Covers US and EU standards (FDA and MDD, respectively, plus related ISO requirements) Includes information that is backed up with real-life clinical examples, case studies, and separate tutorials for training and class use Completely updated to include new standards and regulations, as well as new case studies and illustrations

In a joint effort between the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, this books attempts to bridge the knowledge/awareness divide separating health care professionals from their potential partners in systems engineering and related disciplines. The goal of this partnership is to transform the U.S. health care sector from an underperforming conglomerate of independent entities (individual practitioners, small group practices, clinics, hospitals, pharmacies, community health centers et. al.) into a high performance "system" in which every participating unit recognizes its dependence and influence on every other unit. By providing both a framework and action plan for a systems approach to health care delivery based on a partnership between engineers and health care professionals, Building a Better Delivery System describes opportunities and challenges to harness the power of systems-engineering tools, information technologies and complementary knowledge in social sciences, cognitive sciences and business/management to advance the U.S. health care system.