Paolo Masci

Citation:

Blandford A, Cauchi A, Curzon P, Eslambolchilar P, Furniss D, Gimblett A, Huang H, Lee P, Li Y, Masci P et al..  2011.  Comparing Actual Practice and User Manuals: A Case Study Based on Programmable Infusion Pumps. Eics4Med, the 1st International Workshop on Engineering Interactive Computing Systems for Medicine and Health Care, copy at www.tinyurl.com/zu4ax32

Abstract:

We report on a case study investigating current practice in the use of a programmable infusion pump. We start by formalising an existing description of the procedure followed by nurses for setting up a commercial infusion pump obtained via observation and interview. We then compare and contrast this procedure with a formal description of the sequence of actions reported in the pump's user manual. Mismatches were validated by a training manager. The aim of this comparison is to point out how minor mismatches between the two descriptions can be used to reveal major safety issues. Our contributions are: first, we analyse a real-world system and show the importance of having a clear and consistent specification of the procedures; second, we show how a graph-based notation can be conveniently used for building non-ambiguous and intuitive specifications. We argue that this can provide support to an investigator when building a description of actual practice in that it can help focus attention on areas to observe more closely and questions to ask to understand why procedures, as followed, are the way they are.

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