Engineers roll up their sleeves to solve troubles in health care
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Ronald Rardin, director of academic operations at the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering at Purdue's Discovery Park and an industrial engineering professor, said systems-engineering tools have transformed other U.S. industries and could do the same for health care.
"Health-care delivery in this country is in a crisis of inconsistent and sometimes dismal quality, safety and efficiency, with exploding costs," said Rardin, an expert in optimal design, planning and control of large-scale systems. "A major reason for some of these shortfalls is the lack of involvement from the systems engineers and researchers who have done so much to improve the effectiveness of global manufacturing and distribution operations."
Engineers from across the nation will meet next week during a National Science Foundation workshop, led by Rardin, to discuss how they can improve health-care delivery. The workshop, titled "Healthcare Systems Engineering," will take place Thursday and Friday (June 15-16) at NSF headquarters in Arlington, Va. More information is available online.
Rardin (pronounced Rare-din) said Regenstrief Center researchers are using the principles of technology, engineering and supply-chain management to address inefficiencies in health care. He said a 2005 report by the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine also provides a foundation for improved systems.
"But further progress is needed in developing computer models and other tools for engineering-integrated systems of personnel, information and communications technologies, facilities and planning, and control units that together can transform the safety, cost, quality and efficiency of health-care delivery," he said.
The NSF's Directorate of Engineering, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and the Regenstrief Center at Purdue are sponsoring next week's workshop.
Initial areas of research at the Regenstrief Center have included improving the safety and efficiency of patient care; providing more efficient deployment of physicians, nurses and other health-care personnel; better coordinating inpatient and outpatient treatment; and telehealth.
Writer: Phillip Fiorini, (765) 496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu
Source: Ron Rardin, (765) 494-5410, rardin@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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