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Can we make health IT safe enough for patients?

Issue title: IEA 2012: 18th World congress on Ergonomics - Designing a sustainable future

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Wears, Robert L;

Affiliations: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Florida – Jacksonville, 655 W 8th Street, Jacksonville, FL 32209, USA | Centre for Safety and Quality Improvement, Imperial College London, QEQM Building, Praed Street, London W2 1NY, UK

Note: [] * Corresponding author: wears@ufl.edu, +1 904 244 4405, +1 904 244 4508 (fax)

Keywords: Health care, safety, information technology, safety-critical computing

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-2012-0749-4484

Journal: Work, vol. 41, no. Supplement 1, pp. 4484-4489, 2012

Published: 2012
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Abstract

Health information technology (HIT) is widely believed to be an essential modality for improving the efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of healthcare, and has its adoption has been vigorously promoted. However, the safety of commercially available HIT systems has never been independently and rigorously assessed. This paper discusses critical issues to be considered in the development of safe and reliable HIT, and identifies a group of structural impediments that may slow or prevent the arrival of HIT that is actually safe enough for routine clinical use. It argues that this situation is analogous to NASA’s promotion of the space shuttle not as an experimental, risky technology, but rather as a routine, ready-for-ordinary-use resource.

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