Seizing the Moment: Translating Human Factors Research into Patient Safety Interventions

Abstract

The word is out. Doctors, nurses, and health care administrators have heard of human factors. They don't quite understand it, but they are willing to listen if they can see convincing evidence that it can help. To be effective instruments of change the human factors community needs to understand better what motivates physicians and nurses and hospitals to change, and how the health care system works. They need to get closer to the market, learn how to communicate with hospitals and medical practitioners, discover the opportunities for human factors services, and learn how to deal with the health care community to change the culture of blame to one of systems understanding and improvement. It is to that end that this panel was organized. The panel brought together managers, research funders, policy makers and medical educators who are actively engaged in trying to improve patient safety in hospitals to discuss needs, opportunities, and challenges to performing human factors research addressing health care concerns and translating the results of the research into practical interventions.