Human Factors Contributions toward Medication Safety

Preventable patient harm due to errors in medication ordering, transcribing, dispensing and administration is a significant problem as discussed in the Institute of Medicine's 2007 report “Preventing Medication Errors”. Additionally, the report states that there are “enormous gaps in the knowledge base with regard to medication errors” and that the current methods available to solve this problem are inadequate (IOM, 2007, p2). Consequently, human factors research can contribute to the solution for this national problem by addressing the complexity in current medication systems and by designing user-centered solutions that support the real complex cognitive work of the clinicians. Panelists in this session, who have been funded by the federal government, private industry, and fellowships, will briefly share their human factors research on medication systems and then discuss how human factors researchers and practitioners can contribute to medication safety goals.