Marketing medical simulation — what industry needs from the clinical community

Abstract

Virtual-reality simulators for the training of medical procedures are now becoming commercially available at an affordable cost. Many clinicians and professional organisations believe that this technology is the future of education in the healthcare community. In the marketing of these simulation systems, the medical simulation industry needs significant input from the clinical community in a number of areas. In product definition there are several factors that need to be considered in deciding which simulators should be developed. During the product-development process there are key decisions and tradeoffs to be made on the features that will be incorporated, to achieve the optimum training value at an acceptable cost within a reasonable timeframe. As the simulation systems become available, studies need to be performed to establish the effectiveness of the training given. From a financial point of view, both the investment community and healthcare administrators need to have a clear demonstration of the cost-effectiveness and potential opportunity.

Key Words:

• medical simulation
• medical education
• virtual reality