A Review of Technology-Induced Errors.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare technology
• Patient safety
• Medical informatics

Background:

• Technology-induced errors (TIE) emerged in research in the early 2000s.
• Understanding the root causes of TIE is crucial for improving patient safety.
• Previous literature has not comprehensively categorized TIE.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and classify existing literature on technology-induced errors.
• To identify the primary categories of problems contributing to TIE.
• To analyze the trends in TIE research publication over time.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive literature review was conducted.
• Publications were analyzed and categorized into clinical/procedure errors, human factors, and technical difficulties.
• The frequency of different error categories and publication trends were assessed.

Main Results:

• All 15 reviewed publications were classified under the human factors category.
• Technical difficulties constituted a minority of the identified TIE publications.
• Literature reviews were the most common research methodology employed.
• A decade passed between the concept's introduction and a significant increase in publications.

Conclusions:

• Human factors are the predominant issue in technology-induced errors.
• Further research is needed to explore technical difficulties in TIE.
• The slow growth in TIE research highlights a need for increased focus on this critical patient safety area.