Handbook of Research on Patient Safety and Quality Care through Health Informatics

Compiled in this handbook are 20 articles on the use and application of health informatics in patient safety and quality care. Researchers in information technology, informatics, healthcare, and other areas in Europe, North America, Singapore, Ghana, and Peru discuss human, process, technology, and information dimensions, as well as architecture, strategy, and policy. They address patient privacy, a model for identifying quality and safety factors related to near misses, deficiencies in non-technical skills that lead to medical error, and virtual learning environments as training and simulation tools to improve patient safety; measuring patient safety, workarounds in health services and their impact on safety and quality, errors as a result of human defects or poor system and procedure design, and issues caused by the ineffective use of clinical pathway knowledge.

This book seeks to inspire dialogue and provoke thoughtful reflection about how healthcare informatics might support patient safety. It aims to offer tools and models readers may use to reflect upon current practice and build future policies and processes. [...] The book covers aspects of healthcare informatics systems that affect patient safety, including human factors, policies, procedures, devices, automation, culture, and environmental factors. It is best at examining different factors that influence decisions at the point of care and provoking thoughtful reflection in readers.