Healthcare Engineering

In its succinct definition, “Healthcare Engineering is engineering involved in all aspects of healthcare”. The term “engineering” in this definition covers all engineering disciplines such as Biomedical, Chemical, Civil, Computer, Electrical, Environmental, Industrial, Information, Materials, Mechanical, Software, and Systems Engineering. Based on the definition of "healthcare", a more elaborated definition of Healthcare Engineering is the following:“Healthcare Engineering is engineering involved in all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and management of illness, as well as the preservation and improvement of physical and mental health and well-being, through the services offered to humans by the medical and allied health professions”.

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 a multi-disciplinary specialty that focuses on advancing healthcare through engineering approaches involving both healthcare and engineering professionals. 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.

The American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), established in the 1960s, 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/definition of “Healthcare Engineering” 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.

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