Specific Elements of a New Hemodynamics Display Improves the Performance of Anesthesiologists

Objective.We tested the hypothesis that a monitoring display proposed by Blike et al. improves the performance of anesthesiologists. We measured the performance of anesthesiologists using the new display and compared it to their performance with at raditional display. We studied three different displays on how they affected recognition and differentiation of five etiologies ofshock–anaphylaxis, bradycardia, hypovolemia, ischemia and pulmonary embolus. Methods.The participants monitored heartrate, systemic arterial and pulmonary blood pressure, central venous pressure, and cardiac output during five shock states and five non-shock states. The resulting 10 data sets made up ten decision screens, which we presented randomly on a computer monitor to the subjects in one of three different formats (a Single Sensor Single Indicator (SSSI)Numericdisplay; anObjectdisplay; and an Object Minus Shapesdisplay). Subjects used soft-buttons on a computer touch-screen monitor to: a) advance to the next display; b) differentiate a non-shock state from a shock state; and, c) select the etiology of shock state represented by the display (Figure 4). The internal clock and memory of the computer made the collection of data automatic. Results.The subjects recognized a problem more rapidly with the help of a graphical “pointer on a referencescale” in both Objectdisplays, but their accuracy had not improved in comparison to the SSSI Numericdisplay. The shape of the Objectdisplay improved performance of etiology determination compared to the Object Minus Shapesdisplay andSSSI Numericdisplay. Testing (10 trials) was completed in less than 45 minutes. Conclusions.The new display with“emergent features” can improve the diagnostic performance of clinicians.