Human Factors in practice

In this episode we kick off a mini-series on human factors in practice. I will be speaking with a cross section of clinicians on what human factors means to them and the impact it can and has had on their practice. In this episode I discuss the fundamentals of human factors including; a working definition of human factors, why human factors are important, the history of human factors, the main domains of human factors, Individual Human factors & mitigation, task human factors & mitigation, environmental/System human factors F& mitigation, NASA's approach to human factors and finally three seminal cases in human factors.

Medical errors can have significant costs both in terms of patient health outcomes and financial costs. While it is difficult to estimate the precise global costs of medical errors, studies have suggested that they can be substantial. In the United States alone, medical errors have been estimated to cost between $17 billion and $29 billion annually in direct costs, such as additional medical expenses, lost income, and disability. This figure does not include the indirect costs associated with lost productivity or quality of life. A study in the UK estimated that preventable medical errors cost the National Health Service (NHS) around £1 billion each year. On a global scale, a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 10% of hospital admissions worldwide result in adverse events, and around half of these are due to errors. These errors are estimated to cause between 6 and 10% of hospital admissions in developed countries, and up to 20% of admissions in developing countries. The report also estimated that medication errors alone affect at least 1.5 million people globally each year, resulting in 100,000 deaths annually. 

Here are the links mentioned in the episode:

• REMOTE MEDICAL EMERGENCIES RGS - https://www.rgs.org/CMSPages/GetFile.aspx?nodeguid=6643dce6-a321-4002-b117-28d26897ab59&lang=en-GB  

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C59910SWyw  To err is human documentary   

• https://emcrit.org/wp-content/uploads/ElaineBromileyAnonymousReport.pdf  – Elaine Bromiley report

  • https://www.theverge.com/2019/5/2/18518176/boeing-737-max-crash-problems-human-error-mcas-faa  - The Boeing 737 human factors   https://sma.nasa.gov/sma-disciplines/human-factors 

  https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Documents/Safety/MSH_TB_HOF_Woodside_HOFOilnGas.pdf

  
  

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