Carilion Clinic today announced the launch of Usability Works at Carilion Clinic, a new usability engineering consultancy designed to support medical technology companies while strengthening the Roanoke-Blacksburg region as a hub for biotechnology innovation.
Embedded within Carilion’s nationally accredited Center for Simulation, Research, and Patient Safety, Usability Works provides medical device and healthcare technology developers with access to clinical expertise, realistic testing environments, and regulatory-aligned usability evaluation early in the development process. The consultancy helps companies reduce risk, accelerate product development, and bring innovations to market more efficiently.
“Medical technologies often fail not because of engineering flaws, but because they don’t align with how care is actually delivered,” said Robert Turner, Ph.D., Usability Works’ managing director. “By embedding usability engineering directly in a healthcare system, we’re able to generate higher‑fidelity insights grounded in real clinical workflows before design decisions are made.”
By offering capabilities typically found in major medical technology hubs, Usability Works is expected to attract startups, established companies, and investment to the region while creating new opportunities for collaboration with clinicians, researchers, and academic partners.
“Usability Works builds on Carilion’s role as both a healthcare leader and an economic engine for our region,” said Don Halliwill, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Carilion Clinic. “This initiative supports high-value innovation, workforce engagement, and long-term economic growth while advancing better healthcare technologies.”
Testing is conducted in high-fidelity simulated clinical environments, including operating rooms, intensive care units, emergency settings, physician offices, and home-care scenarios. Services include developmental usability testing, validation studies, use-related risk analysis, and design recommendations for medical devices, digital health platforms, and software-enabled technologies.
Usability Works at Carilion Clinic received funding through GO Virginia’s Project VITAL, a regional biotechnology collaboration involving Carilion Clinic, the Roanoke-Blacksburg Innovation Alliance, and Virginia Tech, aimed at accelerating biotech commercialization and medical device development in Southwest Virginia and across the Commonwealth.
For more information, visit www.carilionclinic.org/
