Browsing by Subject "Ergonomics"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Gains, losses, and uncertainties from computerizing referrals and consultations
    (Elsevier, 2020-11) Weiner, Michael; Savoy, April; Barker, Barry C.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Consultations entail transitions in care between referrers and consultants, as patients visit different clinicians and care sites. This complex process has been consistently prone to communication breakdowns. Despite expectations and benefits of electronic health records (EHRs), incomplete, vague, or inappropriate referrals continue to hinder consultations; referrals can be sent to the wrong specialty service; and consultation findings frequently fail to reach referrers. Due to the inadequate support of interpersonal communication afforded by EHRs, these issues persist. Important aspects of ergonomics and human factors engineering frequently appear overlooked during the design and implementation of EHRs. Usability issues have contributed to delays in medical diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up. Some of these delays contribute to patient harms. Our multidisciplinary team of clinicians and ergonomics professionals reflects on referral and consultation. We describe how computerization in healthcare should benefit from approaches informed and developed through applied ergonomics and human factors.
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    Human Factors and Ergonomics Methods for Pharmacy Research and Clinical Practice
    (Elsevier, 2021) Holden, Richard J.; Abebe, Ephrem; Russ-Jara, Alissa L.; Chui, Michelle A.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Human factors and ergonomics (HFE) is a scientific and practical human-centered discipline that studies and improves human performance in sociotechnical systems. HFE in pharmacy promotes the human-centered design of systems to support individuals and teams performing medication-related work. Objective: To review select HFE methods well suited to address pharmacy challenges, with examples of their application in pharmacy. Methods: We define the scope of HFE methods in pharmacy as applications to pharmacy settings, such as inpatient or community pharmacies, as well as medication-related phenomena such as medication safety, adherence, or deprescribing. We identify and present seven categories of HFE methods suited to widespread use for pharmacy research and clinical practice. Results: Categories of HFE methods applicable to pharmacy include work system analysis; task analysis; workload assessment; medication safety and error analysis; user-centered and participatory design; usability evaluation; and physical ergonomics. HFE methods are used in three broad phases of human-centered design and evaluation: study; design; and evaluation. The most robust applications of HFE methods involve the combination of HFE methods across all three phases. Two cases illustrate such a comprehensive application of HFE: one case of medication package, label, and information design and a second case of human-centered design of a digital decision aid for medication safety. Conclusions: Pharmacy, including the places where pharmacy professionals work and the multistep process of medication use across people and settings, can benefit from HFE. This is because pharmacy is a human-centered sociotechnical system with an existing tradition of studying and analyzing the present state, designing solutions to problems, and evaluating those solutions in laboratory or practice settings. We conclude by addressing common concerns about the implementation of HFE methods and urge the adoption of HFE methods in pharmacy.
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    Human factors/ergonomics work system analysis of patient work: state of the science and future directions
    (Oxford University Press, 2021-01-12) Werner, Nicole E.; Ponnala, Siddarth; Doutcheva, Nadia; Holden, Richard J.; Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health
    Purpose: To demonstrate the use and value of the Human Factors/Ergonomics-based Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) family of work system models for studying and improving patient work. Data sources: We conducted a review of the published empirical literature applying the SEIPS family of work system models for patient work. Study selection: Included studies had to apply one of the SEIPS family of work system models to study patient work; be published in a peer-reviewed journal in English and include analysis of data. We identified 16 articles that met our inclusion criteria. Data extraction: For each study, we extracted settings and situations in which models were applied; research design; study methods; model(s) used; type and number of study participants; study objective(s); whether the study included an intervention; specific aspects of the model used; knowledge generated about patient work and benefits of using the models. Results of data synthesis: Our analysis revealed that a majority of studies were conducted in the United States, used qualitative or mixed methods and employed a variety of data collection techniques to study adult patient populations with chronic illness and their informal caregivers and healthcare providers performing patient work in the home and clinical setting. The studies resulted in a variety of useful products, demonstrating several benefits of using the models. Conclusion: Our review has demonstrated the value of using the SEIPS family of work systems models to study and improve patient and family contributions to health-related work.