Healthcare engineering

Almost all engineering disciplines (e.g., biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, information, materials, mechanical, software, and systems engineering) have made significant contributions and brought about advances in healthcare. Contributions have also been made by healthcare professionals (e.g., physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and health scientists) who are engaged in supporting, improving, and/or advancing healthcare through engineering approaches. Healthcare engineering is expected to play a role of growing importance as healthcare continues to be one of the world's largest and fastest-growing industries where engineering is a major factor of advancement through creating, developing, and implementing cutting-edge devices, systems, and procedures attributed to breakthroughs in electronics, information technology, miniaturization, material science, optics, and other fields, to address challenges associated with issues such as the continued rise in healthcare costs, the quality and safety of healthcare, care of the aging population, management of common diseases, the impact of high technology, increasing demands for regulatory compliance, risk management, and reducing litigation risk. As the demand for engineers continues to increase in healthcare, healthcare engineering will be recognized as the most important profession where engineers make major contributions directly benefiting human health. ==History==

The American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), established in 1962, was one of the first to publicize the term healthcare engineering. ASHE, as well as its many local affiliate societies, is devoted to the health care physical environment, including design, building, maintenance, and operation of hospitals and other health care facilities, which represents only one sector of engineers' activities in healthcare. The term healthcare engineers first appeared in the scientific literature in 1989, where the critical role of engineers in the healthcare delivery system was discussed. A number of academic programs have adopted the name healthcare engineering (e.g., Indiana University, Northwestern University, Purdue University, Texas Tech University, University of Illinois, University of Michigan, University of North Carolina, University of Southern California, University of Toronto), although the description or definition of the term by these programs varies, as each institution has designed its program based on its own distinctive interest, strength, and focus. The first scholarly journal dedicated to healthcare engineering, Journal of Healthcare Engineering, was launched in 2010 by Dr. Ming-Chien Chyu, focusing on engineering involved in all aspects of healthcare delivery processes and systems. In the meantime, a number of companies with various foci have adopted healthcare engineering in their names. Healthcare engineering was first defined in a white paper ==Purpose==

The purpose of healthcare engineering is to improve human health and well-being through engineering approaches. ==Scope==

Healthcare engineering covers the following two major fields: • Engineering for healthcare intervention: engineering involved in the development or provision of any treatment, preventive care, or test that a person could take or undergo to improve health or to help with a particular health problem. • Engineering for healthcare systems: engineering involved in the complete network of organizations, agencies, facilities, information systems, management systems, financing mechanisms, logistics, and all trained personnel engaged in delivering healthcare within a geographical area. Healthcare engineering subjects Updated ramifications and lists of topics within individual subjects are available from authoritative sources such as the leading societies/associations of individual subjects and government organizations. (I) Engineering for healthcare intervention Fundamentals • Biomechanics • Biomaterials • Biomedical instruments • Medical devices • Engineering for surgery • Medical imaging • Organ transplantation • Artificial organs • Drug delivery • Genetic engineering • Engineering for diagnosis/detection • Health informatics, information engineering and decision support • Disinfection engineering Engineering for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management • Cardiovascular disease • Cancer • Alzheimer's disease • Diabetes • Respiratory disease • Obesity • Degenerative diseases • Others Engineering for patient care • Patient safety • Critical care • Neonatal care • Home healthcare • Elderly care • Patient monitoring • Health disparities • Disaster management Engineering for medical specialties • Allergy and immunology • Anesthesiology • Cardiology • Critical care medicine • Emergency medicine • Endocrinology • Gastroenterology • General surgery • Geriatrics • Infectious disease • Neurology • Neurosurgery • Nuclear medicine • Occupational medicine • Oncology • Ophthalmology • Orthopedics • Pathology • Pediatrics • Physical medicine and rehabilitation • Plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery • Public health • Pulmonology • Radiology • Radiotherapy • Rheumatology • Sports medicine • Urology • Vascular medicine • Others Engineering for dental specialties • Endodontics • Oral and maxillofacial pathology, radiology, and surgery • Orthodontics and dentofacial orthopedics • Periodontics • Prosthodontics • Others Engineering for allied health specialties • Audiology • Clinical laboratory science • Environmental health • Occupational therapy • Orthotics and prosthetics • Physical therapy • Rehabilitation • Respiratory therapy • Speech therapy • Others Engineering for nursing – including nursing in all related areas Engineering for pharmacy • Pharmaceutical design and development • Bio-/pharmaceutical manufacturing • Pharmaceutical devices • Pharmaceutical testing • Pharmaceutical information systems • Clinical science • Regulatory compliance (II) Engineering for healthcare systems Healthcare system management, improvement and reform • Quality, cost, efficiency, effectiveness • Operations research and systems engineering • Lean, Six Sigma, total quality management • Human factors • High reliability organization • Resilience engineering • Rural health Healthcare information systems • Electronic health record • eHealth • mHealth • Telemedicine • Wireless technology • Data mining and big data • Information security Healthcare facilities • Healthcare infrastructure • Healthcare energy systems • Healthcare sustainability and green design • Environmental health and safety Healthcare policy (III) Others Healthcare engineering education and training • Collegiate education • Continued education Future of healthcare ==Synergy==

Healthcare engineering features a synergy among the healthcare and medical sectors of all engineering disciplines and the engineering and technology sectors of the health sciences, as depicted in Figure 1. ==Professional==

Healthcare engineering professionals are mainly (a) engineers from all engineering disciplines such as biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, information, materials, mechanical, software, and systems engineering, and (b) healthcare professionals such as physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, and health scientists, who are engaged in supporting, improving, and/or advancing any aspect of healthcare through engineering approaches, in accordance with the above definition of healthcare engineering. Since some healthcare professionals engaged in healthcare engineering may not be considered to be "engineers", "healthcare engineering professional" is a more appropriate term than "Healthcare Engineer". ==Venue==

Healthcare engineering professionals generally perform their jobs in, with, or for the healthcare industry. Major sectors and subsectors of healthcare industry along with healthcare engineering professionals' contributions are summarized in Table 2. ==Education and training==

Engineers from almost all engineering disciplines (such as biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, industrial, information, materials, mechanical, software, and systems engineering) are always in demand in healthcare. It is a common misconception that only engineers with a background in biomedical engineering, clinical engineering, or related areas may work in healthcare. However, there is a need for courses and certificate type of programs that prepare non-biomedical engineering students and practicing engineers for service in healthcare. On the other hand, healthcare professionals (physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, allied health professionals, etc.) may benefit from training to apply engineering to their practice, problem solving, and advancing healthcare. Due to the rapid advance of technology, continuing education plays a crucial role in ensuring healthcare engineering professionals' continued competence. == See also ==