This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Doyle, D. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Doyle, D. J. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Complexity and safety in medical computing: a clinician’s musings

University of Toronto, Toronto General Hospital, djdoyle{at}home.com

Some technologies, like scissors and chopsticks, appear inherently simple. Others, like nuclear reactors or life-support electronics, are inherently complex. By nature, the safety issues associated with complex systems are more involved than those associated with simple systems. There are always added cost requirements in complexity, such as special requirements for ensuring safe operation of the system. The very subsystems added to increase safety, however, necessarily add to complexity and, ironically, enrich the number of possible failure modes in the overall system. Thus there is a concern that the failure of any additional safety system may itself lead to new system failure modes that would not have otherwise occurred [1].

These comments explain why simply adding complexity to a system may not always improve on the system’s performance. The following illustrates some of the concerns that I have developed about the potential misapplication of computers in medical technology. These concerns are based on my clinical experience over the last decade in dealing with high-tech aspects of medical care.

Health Informatics Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, 3-8 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/146045820000600102


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?