Evaluation of Medical Device Aging and Replacement Decisions within Hospital Environments: A User-Centered Approach.

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the factors influencing medical device replacement decisions from a user-centered perspective: medical technicians, engineers, and healthcare professionals. We seek to prioritize criteria for medical device replacement and develop feasible strategies applicable to real-world healthcare settings. Methods: This analysis was conducted by reviewing previous studies to identify the key factors in medical device replacements. The key variables were selected from the review, and the significant factors for analysis were determined. Results: An analytic hierarchy process (AHP) analysis was used to compare and analyze the priority of medical device replacement, which revealed that clinical factors emerged as the crucial in medical device replacement decisions. Additionally, unlike medical technicians, doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, for whom clinical factors are the primary considerations when replacing medical devices, safety is the most important factor for medical engineers. Conclusion: Medical device obsolescence significantly affects patient safety and healthcare operations. Therefore, the maintenance plans for medical devices should focus on clinical factors. Moreover, a more systematic medical device replacement system must be established, prioritizing the factors according to the occupations of medical workers.