Kiah Ferrell
Technology in Medicine
Southeastern University
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Introduction
Medicine is one of the fastest growing fields in the world along with technology. With the general assumption that technology makes work lighter and more efficient an extensive influx of technology has been promoted in the medical field. For the most part the use of technology in survey has shown advantages, and disadvantages. In the future, medicine will face a fundamental challenge of keeping up with technology. Not only will doctors begin to be replaced by machines, but also technology will create infections in patients, and possibly even malfunction in the middle of a procedure. These problems can be fixed with some solutions: technologist in the operating room, operators training classes, or even better alternatives in case of a malfunction during a procedure.
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Malfunction of Technology in Medicine
One of the most crucial problem with technology in the medical field is its malfunction of it during a procedure. “Around 15 errors occur in a medical procedure and about 24 percent of those errors are caused by malfunction of technology (Gholipour, 25, & ET, n.d.). Due to the higher amount of technology used in procedures, surgeons are now seeing more mistakes arising from them. Technology is being pushed into the medical field because for the most part it less risky and more rewarding. For example, a surgery performed endoscopically will leave minimal scaring compared to surgery done by a human. The benefits are substantial when comparing robots to humans (wpadmin, 2014). The mistakes made my technology can be minute or life changing though. At the pace technology is growing, we could see life threating malfunctions if the equipment is not used properly. New technology is taking over the medical field. We now even have robots doing surgery all by themselves. This could be very beneficial if nothing went wrong, but that is the inevitable problem. With this new technology comes technical difficulties and malfunction.
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Problem
“A team of university eggheads have counted up the number of medical cockups in America reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2000 to 2013, and found there were 144 deaths during robot-assisted surgery, 1,391 injuries, and 8,061 counts of device malfunctions,”(20:43 & tweet_btn(), n.d.). These numbers are astonishing. It all depends on how this information is interpreted. Despite this malfunction seems to be happening more often than not. For example, in 2011 there was a nurse who had a problem with a glucometer. A glucometer tests the blood sugar of patients, usually diabetic, to determine if they need more sugar or insulin. The meter gave her a dangerously high read of 600. This means that patients would need insulin to get their blood sugar to a healthy level. Because of the reading on the meter the nurse gave the patient insulin, when in reality the patient was low and not high and the insulin put the patient even lower creating a diabetic coma(“New technology can pose dangers if human factor not considered. Adjust for how it will be used,” n.d.). The nurse in this situation had to trust that the technology was right. She did her job and the technology failed her. Because nurses do not care for or assess the technology, such an error could happen to any nurse. Further, what seems to be a minor piece of technology, like a glucometer compared to a surgical robot, has equal importance to complex systems, especially when death can result.
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Solution
Malfunction of technology is not one of the easiest problems to fix. One example could be to make the operator take classes on the technology to be able to understand it better, work with it, and even fix some of its mechanical and software malfunctions. This would decrease many of the accidents that are seen with malfunctions. For example, MedStar Health launched its National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare in 2010. This center promotes safety issues with the new technology and helps doctors understand the technology and its function(“New technology can pose dangers if human factor not considered. Adjust for how it will be used,” n.d.). Medstar Health allows doctors to attend half day and full day educations sessions (“Education,” n.d.). In the future, they also plan to offer online classes (“Education,” n.d.). Although this program does not have results because it is still in process the outlook is good. If hospitals, clinics, and doctors ‘offices were to incorporate this into their practice there would be a significant change in the number of technological malfunction related accidents.
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Infection From Technology in Medicine
Another issue in the medical field regarding technology is the infection rate in patients. Due to all of the new equipment and advanced protocol, the devices are not being cleaned and sterilized as well as they should be. This is leading to many post operation complications that could even lead to death. Sterilization needs to be taken seriously whether it is with technology or doctors. The technological devices being used are very expensive and need to be taken care of like they are.
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Problem
“Hospitals have long battled in-hospital infections. The most recent update of a Centers for Disease Control survey examining health-care associated infections estimated that in 2011, there were 721,800 infections in hospitals in the United States,”(“New technology helps hospital fight infections,” n.d.). Not all of those infections came from technology but many of them did. Technology can help eliminate infection if we use it properly, but it can also create infection. For example, some hospitals have found a cross contamination from flexible endoscopes. The doctors did not realize they had to clean the new technology differently than before. This could be a life-threatening problem. According to Keller (2017) where a certain brand of an endoscope changed its design to be more effective, but it actually required the channel to be cleaned separately. This means that the hospital did not disinfect the endoscope and it caused an infection in the patient(“12 Worst Medical Technology Dangers,” n.d.). Technological equipment is a perfect place for bacteria to hide. Without proper care, the infection rate could compound.
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Solution
Infection conversely should be a simpler problem to fix. Hospitals should create a mandatory disinfection procedure before each use of technology. This should help decrease the infection rate tremendously. The procedure would require the tools to go through a chemical wash by a staff member and then put through inspection again:
A study in late 2016, conducted by the University of Pennsylvania hospital, reports that the use of UV-C light robot to disinfect patients and equipment could decrease the infection rate by 21%. In turn these robots could save the hospitals between $350,000 and $1.5 million in healthcare cost as well as lawsuits,” (Black, n.d.).
Just a single wash could save someone’s life, so why not take the time to take of the technology like they take care of the patients.
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Conclusion
Overall, in the future, technology will play a crucial part in the medical field and it needs to be taken care of and monitored so that it stays successful. Malfunction will happen, but it is how much the caregivers and technologists know to fix or even prevent these events, that will make the difference. Infection has always been a problem in medicine and adding new technology will only increase this issue without predicting problems. It will take some research and time, but when medicine finds ways to prevent infection from this new technology there will be improvements. With time, research, classes and protocol technology could be the front-runner in medicine. Technology could make a substantial impact in the lives of many, but only if the issues mentioned above get taken care of.​
References
12 Worst Medical Technology Dangers. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.medscape.com/features/slideshow/tech-dangers
20:43, 21 Jul 2015 at, & tweet_btn(), I. T. (n.d.). Robot surgeons kill 144 patients, hurt 1,391, malfunction 8,061 times. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/07/21/robot_surgery_kills_americans/
Black, R. (n.d.). Technology Can Be Cause of, and Solution To, Hospital-Acquired Infections. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.mdmag.com/medical-news/technology-can-be-cause-of-and-solution-to-hospital-acquired-infections
Education. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from https://www.medicalhumanfactors.net/education-2/
Gholipour, B., 25, S. W. | J., & ET, 2013 06:30pm. (n.d.). 1 in 4 Surgery Errors Due to Technology Problems. Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.livescience.com/38447-surgery-technology-problems.html
New technology can pose dangers if human factor not considered. Adjust for how it will be used. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140816/MAGAZINE/308169986
New technology helps hospital fight infections. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2017, from http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/07/09/new-technology-helps-hospital-fight-infections/12443081/
wpadmin. (2014, November 18). 14 Important Robotic Surgery Statistics. Retrieved from http://healthresearchfunding.org/14-important-robotic-surgery-statistics/
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