Using Human Factors Engineering to Improve Patient Safety: Problem Solving on the Front Line, Second Edition, 2010

Abstract

Author: John Gosbee, MD, MS, and Laura Lin Gosbee, MASc, Publisher: The Joint Commission, ISBN: 978-1-59940-411-0, Publication date: September 2010, Pages: 176, Price: $85Like the first edition, the second edition of this book provides an excellent introduction to human factors engineering (HFE) with a variety of useful teaching resources and informative case studies. The second edition contains a different set and range of case studies from authors representing hospitals and patient safety organizations. It focuses more on the hospital setting than some of the other books in this area, probably due, in part, to John Gosbee's background as an MD.Audience: This book is suitable for a wide variety of readers. Certainly it is useful for healthcare providers and clinical practitioners, who would benefit from the background and introductory materials, especially the advice on choosing human factors (HF) consultants or HF staff. They would also benefit from the case studies, especially those from hospital settings such as Johns Hopkins and Baylor. Management in clinical settings would learn about the benefits of HF in their operations and might be motivated to hire some HF engineers to improve their patient-safety profile, something that's occurring at more hospitals.Clinical engineers and biomeds would be better consumers of medical devices and systems from a usability and use-safety perspective after reading this book. HF engineers already in healthcare or thinking about a career change into the medical field would benefit from seeing how their skills could be applied to solving the challenging problems of medical accidents and adverse patient events. Legislators would also see opportunities for the place of HF in healthcare legislation. Students would see HF in healthcare as a potentially fulfilling and interesting career choice. HF instructors would also find useful teaching tips in this book. In short, this book would appeal to different types of readers at many levels.Features: The Gosbee book has many useful features. It is well organized with the first section covering the basics and methods of HFE, and the second section containing practical case studies. The introductory chapters give a brief overview of HFE, including Theory and General Principles, Methods and Tools, Lessons Learned Teaching HFE, and Finding and Using HFE Expertise. The first section also includes an outline of a three-day workshop, with suggested class exercises, to teach HFE to hospital staff. Other features: checklists for teaching HFE, tips in hiring HF engineers, and a very helpful appendix on HFE. The book cites resources—including other books, journals, professional societies, and healthcare organizations—relevant to HFE.Assessment: The book is straightforward and written well for all levels of readers. I have a minor problem with the chapter on Finding and Using HFE Expertise. The authors are too narrow in their description of what constitutes a good HF engineer. Having worked at Bell Labs, where HFE was first introduced in industry after its origins in World War II, I saw that many companies recruited HF engineers from the ranks of rigorously trained behavioral scientists specializing in such fields as cognitive psychology and experimental psychology. Successful HF engineers from these backgrounds had a solid grounding in research methods along with a desire to work on applied problems of design and evaluation. Many of the most successful HF engineers did not come from pure HFE academic backgrounds, as suggested in the book.I was also confused by one case study of an insulin pen display potentially being read upside down. The photo of the pen appears to be edited incorrectly, but the learning point is still made. But these are very minor problems in a well-written, edited, and organized book—one that would be a worthwhile addition to anyone's general HFE library and, in particular, for someone in the healthcare discipline.