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Using magic to throw light on tricky healthcare systems: Patient safety problem solving
Author(s) -
Williams Linda C.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
human factors and ergonomics in manufacturing and service industries
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.408
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1520-6564
pISSN - 1090-8471
DOI - 10.1002/hfm.20281
Subject(s) - illusion , magic (telescope) , unintended consequences , magic bullet , harm , health care , patient safety , computer science , psychology , medicine , social psychology , epistemology , cognitive psychology , political science , law , philosophy , bioinformatics , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
The illusions that occur in healthcare are inadvertent, certainly unintended, and unfortunately accepted as an aspect of practice with which clinicians have to cope. There are inadvertent illusions and unintended magic in medical devices, software, and in the healthcare environment generally. The engineer, programmer, manufacturer, or architect may not recognize the unintended magic in his or her own designs. Yet the clinician is seen as responsible when the illusion results in unexpected harm to a patient. By being unwilling to suspend disbelief in the face of illusion when it isn't clear what's real, clinicians can end the magic. It is possible to use magic and illusion to show the value of human factors engineering and ergonomics (HFE) in identifying and solving patient safety issues. HFE experts with this ability are equipped to unmask illusion and reveal magic at work in healthcare. Clinicians may see unmasking illusion as equivalent to accurate diagnosis of system ills and the first step in being able to treat system illness. In considering the state of healthcare culture, the use of simple magic tricks brings heightened awareness of tricky medical systems in need of repair and the need for tool‐based problem solving native to HFE. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.