Assessment of patient safety research from an organizational ergonomics and structural perspective

The aim of this study is to review patient safety improvement initiatives within a conceptual framework that builds upon principles of organizational ergonomics and emphasizes structural factors that influence patient safety. The literature review included 131 English language published studies of patient safety improvement strategies extracted using Medline, Ovid Healthstar, PubMed and CINAHL searches. Keywords for the search included: 'patient safety'; 'medical errors'; 'adverse event'; 'iatrogenic'; and truncated options for 'improve'. The multilevel, hierarchical framework offered in this paper integrates quality management principles and organizational ergonomics theory and organizes patient safety initiatives according to sociotechnical system elements within three structural levels: health policies and associated health care organizations; health care delivery organizations; and health care microsystems. Utilizing the conceptual framework, this review of patient safety improvement initiatives highlights the need for consideration of the impact of all improvement proposals on each structural component within health care systems. The review also supports the need for patient safety research to evolve from exploratory, 1-D reporting to multi-level, integrated research.