Evaluation of Medical Device Aging and Replacement Decisions within Hospital Environments: A User-Centered Approach

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Medical Device Engineering
• Health Informatics

Background:

• Medical device obsolescence poses significant risks to patient safety and healthcare efficiency.
• Effective medical device replacement strategies are essential for maintaining high standards of care.
• Understanding user perspectives is key to optimizing medical device lifecycle management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate factors influencing medical device replacement decisions from user-centered perspectives.
• To prioritize criteria for medical device replacement.
• To develop practical strategies for real-world healthcare settings.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review identified key factors in medical device replacement.
• Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis was employed for comparative assessment.
• Key variables and significant factors were selected for in-depth analysis.

Main Results:

• Clinical factors were identified as the most critical in medical device replacement decisions.
• Healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, pharmacists) prioritize clinical factors.
• Medical engineers prioritize safety factors over clinical factors.

Conclusions:

• Medical device maintenance plans must prioritize clinical factors due to obsolescence risks.
• A systematic medical device replacement system is needed, tailored to occupational priorities.
• Optimizing replacement strategies requires considering the diverse needs of healthcare professionals and engineers.