Work System Analysis: The Key to Understanding Health Care Systems

Many articles in the medical literature state that medical errors are the result of systems problems, require systems analyses, and can only be addressed with systems solutions. Within that same body of literature is a growing recognition that human factors engineering methods and design principles...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Karsh, Ben-Tzion, Alper, Samuel J
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
ADMINISTRATIVE PERSONNEL
ERRORS
HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT
HUMAN FACTORS ENGINEERING
Medical Facilities, Equipment and Supplies
MEDICAL SERVICES
MEDICINE
Medicine and Medical Research
Operations Research
SOFTWARE TOOLS
SYSTEMS ANALYSIS
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Summary:Many articles in the medical literature state that medical errors are the result of systems problems, require systems analyses, and can only be addressed with systems solutions. Within that same body of literature is a growing recognition that human factors engineering methods and design principles are needed to reduce medical error and, hence, increase patient safety. Work system analysis methods, which are based on industrial and human factors engineering tools have much to contribute toward patient safety, specifically because of their focus on systems. They offer principles and methods for analyzing systems, which if followed, should help health care administrators and clinicians properly analyze their units or facilities, and should lead to more robust patient safety interventions. In this paper, steps for executing a work system analysis are provided. To facilitate comprehension of the steps, the medication administration system is used as an example. Published in Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation. v2 p337-348, AHRQ Publication Nos. 050021 (1-4). Feb 2005.