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Improving Patient Safety in the Patient Journey: Contributions from Human Factors Engineering

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Book cover Women in Industrial and Systems Engineering

Part of the book series: Women in Engineering and Science ((WES))

Abstract

Patient safety remains a significant concern even in light of some improvements, such as reduction of healthcare-associated complications for hospitalized patients. We argue that renewed attention for systems approaches is necessary in order to more effectively tackle complex patient safety problems. We propose the concept of patient journey as a new perspective for patient safety. The spatio-temporal interactions and care transitions are the essence of the patient journey. The patient journey perspective emphasizes patients’ interactions with multiple care settings over time.

We review different process modeling approaches aimed at describing the patient journey. This includes methods based on the SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) model of work system and patient safety. Examples described in this chapter include modeling of the medication management process and modeling of care coordination for elderly patients with chronic conditions. The examples show how human factors and systems engineering can contribute to analyzing processes in the patient journey and, therefore, provide opportunities for addressing patient safety in a systematic manner.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program, through the NIH National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), Grant UL1TR000427. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Pascale Carayon

  2. Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA

    Pascale Carayon

  3. Department of Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Abigail R. Wooldridge

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  1. Pascale Carayon
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Correspondence to Pascale Carayon .

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  1. Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Alice E. Smith

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Carayon, P., Wooldridge, A.R. (2020). Improving Patient Safety in the Patient Journey: Contributions from Human Factors Engineering. In: Smith, A. (eds) Women in Industrial and Systems Engineering. Women in Engineering and Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11866-2_12

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