Creating a systems approach to patient safety through better teamwork

Using a systems engineering approach for the delivery of safe, reliable, consistently high quality healthcare is possible, based on the successes in other industries. To realize the level of reengineering required in healthcare, teams must function across disciplines and departments as a unified organization. By creating and maintaining HRTs, existing hierarchies will flatten and HROs will become part of the healthcare delivery system. The organization must support these teams with the proper tools, technology, and culture in order for the HRTs to complete their patient care missions successfully, consistently, efficiently, and most of all, safely. Government/compliance agencies must partner with organizations for the systems engineering approach to succeed in healthcare, so that policy ultimately originates from the consumer/patient through the care team and the organization, as opposed to a top-down mandate.