Redesigning the IV Pole through Human-Centered Design - Motivity: Getting Patients Moving

Research Objective: To create an IV hanging system designed for ambulation, improving patient and provider experiences, safety, and utility.

Design: Interviews were completed with an inpatient hospital unit nursing team to solicit feedback regarding common issues with hospital IV poles. Issues raised included rickety components, difficulty navigating doorways, and positioning required to avoid toe injuries. The research team designed Motivity to maximize mobility, confidence, and stability for patients while ambulating.

The design focus was narrowed to three components: 1) base modification (with implied directionality and gait allowance), 2) an intuitive, comfortable handle, 3) a pivot system to adapt between walking and stationary states

Setting: Between inpatient beds, infusion bays, emergency treatment areas, and prep/recovery units, there are ~2.79 million IV poles within hospitals nationally. Comprehensive market analysis shows the Total Addressable Market for Motivity would be +$1.5 billion.

Participants: Interviews included inpatient adults, with indication for post-operative in-hospital ambulation, floor nurses, and medical assistants. Additionally, the team held seven longitudinal check-ins with unit-based nursing leadership, and consulted with health system supply chain stakeholders, industrial designers, and clinicians.

Interventions: Nine nurses completed a test drive of Motivity, navigating through unit doorways, in bathrooms, and around corners, before using a 5-point Likert scale to rate the standard IV pole system versus Motivity. Questions were adapted from the Sprout IV Pole Validation Study.

Main Outcome Measures: Design, development and validation of an improved IV pole system.

Results: The Motivity prototype outperformed IV poles on the unit on all measures assessed. Relative to current IV poles, Motivity was rated more stable (4.2/5.0 vs. 3.4/5.0), had improved perceived walking safety (4.9/5.0 vs. 3.0/5.0), and was more beneficial for patients (4.7/5.0) and nurses (4.6/5.0).

Conclusions: An IV system prototype designed around ambulation (Motivity) was well received by nurses. Additional study will assess the benefits for patients, including facilitating early ambulation, (which benefits patients' physiologic and psychologic recovery). Motivity could lead to sooner discharge, reduced complications, and improved staff and patient satisfaction.

Author(s) Disclosures: No disclosures/conflicts of interest