Understanding the Context of Patient Safety Through The Lenses of Three IMIA Working Groups

Delivering safe patient centered care remains an important yet elusive goal across healthcare systems worldwide. The complexity of healthcare delivery and the unique contexts where it is delivered necessitates patient safety solutions that go beyond individual perspectives. This paper articulates the current state of patient safety research and HIT from the perspective of three International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) working groups. Each WG will describe patient safety issues within their domain. We then integrate the three WG perspectives into an integrated model to support research, education and policy development for patient safety where HIT is concerned.