Medical Device Link.

Originally Published MX September/October 2005

IT IN HEALTHCARE

Concerns over security and cost are only a couple of the barriers facing wider implementation of IT applications in medical devices.

"The first barrier is the absence of one or more core competencies required for medical device connectivity and work flow automation," says Tim Gee, principal of Medical Connectivity Consulting (Beaverton, OR). "Competencies frequently lacking include managing patient context, wireless enablement, and the development and management of general-purpose IT products. Due to the variability and rapid change of general-purpose computing technologies, appropriate regulatory strategies for IT-enabled devices are considerably different from those used for embedded devices.

"The most pervasive major barrier is the business delivery system required to sell, install, service, and support connectivity solutions," he continues. "With connectivity, a business built around an embedded device with limited options is transformed.

"Installation is now dependent on device communications and interoperability with networks and third-party information systems. If they are not fully operable, the device is not installed, regardless of how well the embedded device itself works."

The additional knowledge that IT solutions require on the parts of the customer and service technicians is also a barrier, according to Gee. "Adding IT features to embedded devices only starts with R&D—then it ripples throughout a vendor organization," he says.

In relation to remote monitoring, Brian Anderson, vice president of marketing for device management software provider Axeda Systems (Mansfield, MA), agrees that one of the biggest barriers is inherent in the medtech industry: companies accustomed to waiting for a phone call complaining about a malfunctioning product must now actively anticipate such device failures. "You have to change the way your organization works," he says. "That makes adoption go slower."

Copyright ©2005 MX