User-Centered Design of ALERT-ITS: An ICU Bed Forecasting Monitoring System

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Intensive care units require proactive resource planning for optimal patient care.
• Accurate bed demand forecasts and real-time capacity assessments are crucial for informed decision-making.
• Environmental factors can influence hospital bed capacity, necessitating advanced monitoring systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the user-centered design (UCD) process for developing a bed capacity forecasting system.
• To investigate how healthcare professionals envision the user interface for such a system.
• To optimize the user interface through iterative design based on expert feedback.

Main Methods:

• Employed an iterative User-Centered Design (UCD) methodology.
• Developed an initial prototype based on preliminary research.
• Conducted interviews with twelve specialists (healthcare professionals, nursing staff, IT specialists) to gather feedback.

Main Results:

• Identified categorized functions and key insights from user interviews.
• Incorporated diverse user feedback early in the design process.
• Facilitated the creation of a user-friendly interface for the forecasting system.

Conclusions:

• A user-centered approach is effective in designing healthcare resource management tools.
• Early and continuous user feedback is vital for developing intuitive and effective clinical decision support systems.
• The developed system enhances the presentation of bed capacity forecasts, supporting better clinical decision-making and resource allocation.