Decision Making for Patient Safety in Critical Care Equipment Selection

Injuries resulting from medical device use errors far exceed injuries arising from device failures. Until recently, human factors issues have received relatively little attention in medicine. Although the situation is gradually changing, many devices that are currently on the market are sub- optimal from the human factors perspective. This situation places significant responsibility for the device interface quality on the purchasers. Research on the influence of usability considerations on device purchasers’ decision making could provide valuable theoretical foundation for designing medical device selection guidelines.