Patient Safety Update: AHRQ’s PSNet Offers Primer on Understanding a Systems Approach to Medical Errors

Patient Safety Update: AHRQ’s PSNet Offers Primer on Understanding a Systems Approach to Medical Errors

Patient Safety Update: AHRQ’s PSNet Offers Primer on Understanding a Systems Approach to Medical Errors

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) sent this bulletin at 07/23/2013 02:15 PM EDT

Most errors are the result of poorly designed systems rather than individual failings that reflect inadequate knowledge or skill, according to a primer available on AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet). The primer provides background on systems approach theory and relevant, research-based information to help health care providers apply this thinking to health care so they can identify situations or factors likely to give rise to human error. It also introduces methods that can be used to change the underlying systems of care to reduce the occurrence of errors and minimize their impact on patients.  

To access the full patient safety primer, titled Systems Approach, go to: http://psnet.ahrq.gov/primer.aspx?primerID=21.