Health care and patient safety: The failure of traditional approaches – how human factors and ergonomics can and MUST help

Abstract

Hazard and harm to patients as well as inefficiencies associated with health care have been well described as worldwide problems that result in hundreds of thousands of patient deaths and billions of dollars of waste every year. The underlying causes for these problems have not been nearly so well described; more importantly, generalizable mitigation strategies have not been effectively identified or used. The current state of health care and patient safety will be discussed with particular attention to the essential role that an engineering‐based approach, which is heavily rooted in human factors and ergonomics, must play if real and sustainable progress in the safe and efficient delivery of health care is to be achieved. Specific case studies that illustrate the compelling opportunities for the application of human factors and ergonomics–related knowledge will be discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.