The Critical Importance of Interoperability and Data Sharing Among Medical Devices in Enhancing Patient Safety

In March this year, the West Health Institute partnered with Harris Poll to conduct a survey among frontline healthcare providers—nurses across the United States—focusing on data sharing and interoperability among hospital medical devices. From the perspective of frontline healthcare workers, the survey reveals how information collaboration and sharing among medical devices impact patient safety in the U.S. healthcare system. VCBeat has compiled the key findings from the report for our readers.

Opportunities for Collaborative Sharing of Medical Equipment

Over the past 16 years, medical errors have not only remained a persistent headline across various media outlets but have also seen a significant increase in incidence. According to statistics from Patient Safety Weekly, medical errors cause approximately 210,000 to 440,000 preventable deaths annually in the United States, ranking as the third leading cause of patient mortality, surpassed only by heart disease and cancer.

The use of high-reliability equipment in the healthcare industry has offered some hope for tracing medical incidents. However, the current reality is that the adoption of technological devices in healthcare is at an awkward stage: medical personnel serve as a “human network,” bridging and coordinating among these disconnected devices.

The next critical step in reducing medical errors is to integrate medical devices with electronic health records (EHRs) to enable seamless data exchange between them.

The primary causes of medical malpractice include medication errors (approximately 20%), diagnostic errors (approximately 17%), and failures in infection prevention (approximately 12%). These issues can be largely avoided by enhancing the interoperability of medical devices.

According to research published in Health Affairs, ordering errors account for 39% of medication errors, while transcription errors account for 12%. Transcription errors primarily occur when prescriptions need to be manually entered into electronic health records or transcribed by other healthcare professionals. Other errors may arise from mistakes made by physicians during order entry or medication dispensing. These types of errors are mainly attributed to the failure to promptly update the latest clinical trial data.

There are many reasons for diagnostic errors, such as misjudgment of symptoms, failure to order appropriate laboratory tests, or overlooking all relevant diagnostic criteria. Collaboration among medical devices can reduce the occurrence of such errors by performing real-time symptom scans and presenting test results to healthcare professionals in a more timely and clear manner. It is estimated that one-sixth of missed diagnostic clues result from errors occurring during the transmission of test results to physicians. By instantly “pushing” test results into electronic health records, interoperability among medical devices ensures that physicians have accurate reference information available when making diagnoses.

Collaboration among medical devices also plays a positive role in infection prevention, such as in scenarios with potential for prophylaxis, including ventilator-associated pneumonia, emergency care activities, and postoperative shock.

The lack of interoperability among medical devices poses a significant barrier to realizing the full potential of medical technology. Achieving effective progress in reducing medical errors requires leveraging technology to create an automated, interconnected, and collaborative healthcare system. The only viable solution is to ensure seamless information flow between different devices throughout the patient treatment process.

The Impact of Collaborative Sharing Among Medical Devices on Patient Safety

To assess the extent to which interoperability among medical devices impacts safety, we interviewed nurses working on the front lines.

According to a recent report by HIMSS, 90% of hospitals use six or more types of devices that can connect to electronic medical records (such as defibrillators, electrocardiographs, vital signs monitors, ventilators, and infusion pumps), but only one-third are willing to integrate these medical devices with electronic medical records. In addition, the average number of investments per hospital in medical device interoperability and collaboration is only three, which falls far short of the 6–10 types of devices typically available in ICUs.

The integration of medical devices with electronic health records (EHRs) is critically important, as it enhances record retention and data capture. However, achieving functional collaboration also requires interoperability and information exchange between devices. Many devices used in hospitals possess collaborative potential, primarily including monitoring equipment, imaging systems, diagnostic devices, surgical instruments, and therapeutic equipment.

To obtain more firsthand information on information sharing among medical devices, the West Health Institute and Harris Poll conducted a survey targeting frontline healthcare providers—nurses across the United States. The survey’s conclusions were clear: information sharing and interoperability among devices can help prevent medical errors.

Key Conclusions

 Half of the respondents personally witnessed medical accidents caused by the lack of data sharing among devices

 If medical devices could automatically share data, 3/5 of medical errors could be avoided. Furthermore, nearly all (96%) nurses believe that interoperability and collaboration among devices can at least reduce medical errors.

 Nearly half (48%) of respondents estimated that approximately one-quarter of medical errors and adverse events could be prevented if hospital equipment could seamlessly and automatically connect and collaborate to process information.

The survey results indicate that the lack of interoperability among medical devices has resulted in frontline healthcare workers—specifically nurses—bearing the burden of patient care and monitoring device management. Their primary concerns center on patient safety, the risk of medical errors, and time utilization. Furthermore, nurse job satisfaction is also a significant factor.

Inter-device coordination and sharing must be a national legislative priority in China. Universal, standards-based collaborative sharing can help improve efficiency, enhance healthcare quality, and reduce costs in the long run.

The lack of collaborative sharing among medical devices not only leads to adverse events but also results in waste in laboratory testing. Significant time is wasted on the manual entry and transcription of information across different devices, which further increases the potential risk of medical errors.

Implications for Relevant Institutions

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) has recently shifted its focus toward creating a nationwide, interoperable healthcare system—a commendable initiative. However, it is equally essential to integrate medical devices into this system. As medical devices constitute the largest source of diagnostic and treatment data, it is imperative that we capture, coordinate, and present the information generated by all such devices.

Looking further ahead, realizing the full value of information sharing requires its immediate utilization. To achieve functional collaboration, it is essential for medical devices to process information received from other devices; for instance, infusion pumps must manage anesthesia when a patient’s respiration slows and oxygen saturation levels drop. To establish such functional collaboration among medical devices, the FDA needs to publish communication standards and guidance for device interoperability. Although the FDA issued a draft guidance in 2014, it has unfortunately been shelved.

Finally, it is highly inefficient if devices are capable of collaboration but such capability is not effectively implemented in practice. Promoting interoperability among medical devices requires the creation of a more reliable, automated, interconnected, and collaborative medical workflow system, as well as a catalyst to drive this change. We believe that this catalyst lies in the fact that the root causes of medical adverse events are commonly attributed to the inability of medical devices to collaborate and share data.