Research Manager, Carolynn Johnson, recently led a workshop at the inaugural IDSA Medical Design Conference, The Usability Ecosystem, which illustrated the challenges of transitioning medical equipment designed for hospitals and for use by medical personnel into the home.
“Healthcare is undergoing a remarkable shift as treatments previously envisioned as taking place only in hospitals and clinics are moving into the home. However, this paradigm shift represents a daunting challenge for medical equipment designers and manufacturers. Transitioning treatments into the home cannot be accomplished through a simplified user manual and patient training – not when the consequences of mistakes may be deadly. This transition requires that we recognize, understand, and mitigate a vast number of fundamental differences between home and clinical healthcare.”