AHRQ Patient Safety Network: Role of cognition in generating and mitigating clinical errors.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network



Role of cognition in generating and mitigating clinical errors.

Patel VL, Kannampallil TG, Shortliffe EH. BMJ Qual Saf. 2015 May 2; [Epub ahead of print].

Cognition has been recognized as a human factor that can contribute to failures in health care. This review examines cognitive aspects of human error that affect patient safety, methods to augment detection of flawed decision-making, and the potential for educational approaches like virtual reality simulation to train physicians to manage cognitive error once it occurs. A past AHRQ WebM&M interview with Dr. Pat Croskerry explored the role of cognition in medical error.

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