Human factors systems approach to healthcare quality and patient safety

Human factors systems approaches are critical for improving healthcare quality and patient safety. The SEIPS (Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety) model of work system and patient safety is a human factors systems approach that has been successfully applied in healthcare research and practice. Several research and practical applications of the SEIPS model are described. Important implications of the SEIPS model for healthcare system and process redesign are highlighted. Principles for redesigning healthcare systems using the SEIPS model are described. Balancing the work system and encouraging the active and adaptive role of workers are key principles for improving healthcare quality and patient safety.     

Macroergonomics: analysis and design of work systems

Attending to the larger system components such as organizational design and management is not novel for ergonomists. In Europe, there has been a strong tradition to investigate ergonomic problems within a holistic, systems context. "Macroergonomics" builds upon this tradition by providing specific methods and tools that yield large-scale results. It is believed that meaningful and large-scale results are needed in today's competitive and turbulent work environments. Macroergonomics is defined, its history is uncovered and focus is given to a key methodology, macroergonomic analysis and design. Case studies are used to validate the method and illustrate that performance results in the 60-90% range can be expected.     

Future directions in macroergonomics

Abstract

The origin and initial development of macroergonomics as a formal area of research and practice is reviewed, including initial methodologies and applications. Macroergonomics is defined. The synergistic nature of systems and the potential of macroergonomics for effecting 60% or greater improvements in various organizational effectiveness criteria are described. Macroergonomic interventions that have achieved these kinds of results are cited as initial validation of the synergism hypothesis. Future directions in macroergonomics are postulated, including the empirical basis or rationale for each. Included are macroergonomics as a change agent function, total quality management (TQM) strategy, human-centred work system design approach, and preventive occupational health methodology. Macroergonomics is seen as being in a period of rapid development and expansion.     

When paradigms collide at the road rail interface: evaluation of a sociotechnical systems theory design toolkit for cognitive work analysis

The Cognitive Work Analysis Design Toolkit (CWA-DT) is a recently developed approach that provides guidance and tools to assist in applying the outputs of CWA to design processes to incorporate the values and principles of sociotechnical systems theory. In this paper, the CWA-DT is evaluated based on an application to improve safety at rail level crossings. The evaluation considered the extent to which the CWA-DT met pre-defined methodological criteria and aligned with sociotechnical values and principles. Both process and outcome measures were taken based on the ratings of workshop participants and human factors experts. Overall, workshop participants were positive about the process and indicated that it met the methodological criteria and sociotechnical values. However, expert ratings suggested that the CWA-DT achieved only limited success in producing RLX designs that fully aligned with the sociotechnical approach. Discussion about the appropriateness of the sociotechnical approach in a public safety context is provided.

Practitioner Summary: Human factors and ergonomics practitioners need evidence of the effectiveness of methods. A design toolkit for cognitive work analysis, incorporating values and principles from sociotechnical systems theory, was applied to create innovative designs for rail level crossings. Evaluation results based on the application are provided and discussed.     

大型国际枢纽机场安全管理信息系统设计

概述了正在建设过程中的北京首都国际机场T3航站区工程中的一个重要信息系统——机场安全管理信息系统(ASMIS)的设计概念。ASMIS是一个基于企业信息系统集成技术而设计建设的一个共用的安全信息平台,用于支持大型国际枢纽机场中各个联检单位实现安全检查信息共享及业务协防。     

A critical review of the systems approach within patient safety research

The application of concepts, theories and methods from systems ergonomics within patient safety has proved to be an expanding area of research and application in the last decade. This paper aims to take a step back and examine what types of research have been conducted so far and use the results to suggest new ways forward. An analysis of a selection of the patient safety literature suggests that research has so far focused on human error, frameworks for safety and risk and incident reporting. The majority of studies have addressed system concerns at an individual level of analysis with only a few analysing systems across multiple system boundaries. Based on the findings, it is argued that future research needs to move away from a concentration on errors and towards an examination of the connections between systems levels. Examples of how this could be achieved are described in the paper. The outcomes from the review of the systems approach within patient safety provide practitioners and researchers within health care (e.g. the UK National Health Service) with a picture of what types of research are currently being investigated, gaps in understanding and possible future ways forward.     

ManIS: Manufacturing information systems

Information technology, responsible for data collection, processing, storage, retrieval and distribution has made significant strides in the last decade or so. Unfortunately, manufacturing environments have not kept up with the pace of information technology and have failed to utilize this powerful technology to its fullest extent. Manufacturing environments are plagued with a piece-meal approach to problems that need broad and long-range solutions. What is lacking is a broad, comprehensive and focused approach to integrate information systems within the manufacturing environment. We propose ManIS (Manufacturing Information Systems), a model that provides a strategic framework for planning, designing and integrating information systems in a manufacturing environment.     

Women's voice: The case of nursing information systems

This paper looks at the cultural transformation of nursing. It argues that introducing computers in a female occupation is not simply a case of imposing male technology on female care-oriented practices and values. In order to understand current changes of nursing practice, three points of view have to be simultaneously kept in focus: 1) the differences between women's interests and ambitions; 2) the readings of a technology that have already been established through previous examples of design and use (in hospitals up to date primarily for the purpose of establishing discipline and management control); and 3) the social practices that dominate a field of work (in the case of health work the already technology-driven cure aspect).     

SEIPS 2.0: a human factors framework for studying and improving the work of healthcare professionals and patients

Healthcare practitioners, patient safety leaders, educators and researchers increasingly recognise the value of human factors/ergonomics and make use of the discipline's person-centred models of sociotechnical systems. This paper first reviews one of the most widely used healthcare human factors systems models, the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) model, and then introduces an extended model, ‘SEIPS 2.0’. SEIPS 2.0 incorporates three novel concepts into the original model: configuration, engagement and adaptation. The concept of configuration highlights the dynamic, hierarchical and interactive properties of sociotechnical systems, making it possible to depict how health-related performance is shaped at ‘a moment in time’. Engagement conveys that various individuals and teams can perform health-related activities separately and collaboratively. Engaged individuals often include patients, family caregivers and other non-professionals. Adaptation is introduced as a feedback mechanism that explains how dynamic systems evolve in planned and unplanned ways. Key implications and future directions for human factors research in healthcare are discussed.     

基于内在事务的工作流异常处理方法

讨论了工作流引擎处理过程中的相关活动实例的上下文控制机制后,揭示了工作流内在的事务特性,以保证这种内在事务为基准,提出了工作流运行过程中异常处理的控制方法和不同处理策略下的异常恢复规则,保证了异常发生时,异常处理程序和工作流引擎的顺利交接,从而保证了流程发生变化时执行的持续性。     

A Theory of Constraints approach to interorganizational systems implementation

Interorganizational systems (IOS) may provide substantial benefits, however many organizations are reluctant to implement them. This empirical research takes a novel approach and develops a model of IOS feasibility, which is based on the Theory of Constraints (TOC). It introduces the notion of maximal infeasibility, which is the highest among the values of five factors: economic infeasibility, organizational infeasibility, technological infeasibility, risks, and lack of financial resources. The highest value was selected because implementation is hindered even if only one of the feasibility requirements is not fulfilled. Data collected from 139 medium and large Israeli business organizations validated the model, and indicated that strategic motivation is the main driving force for an organization to initiate or to join an IOS, while the main barriers are organizational infeasibility issues such as lack of management support or uninterested potential partners. Adopting a TOC approach to IOS implementation may assist organizations to overcome these obstacles and increase the chance of a successful implementation. An earlier shorter version of this paper was presented at WEB 2006, a pre-ICIS workshop on e-business, in Milwaukee, WI.     

基于四维安全体系模型的安徽报业大厦网络安全系统规划与部署

当今,网络技术的迅猛发展在带来便捷的同时也带来安全威胁,网络安全是任何局域网建设都不可忽视的,必须建设一套安全可靠的网络安全系统来保障信息系统的正常运转。该文从安徽报业大厦安全现状分析入手,依照四维安全体系模型对大厦网络安全系统进行了详细规划,最后,介绍了具体的实施部署以及相关的安全管理机制。     

信息系统安全等级化防护研究探讨

文章针对广州强力安全部门网络安全系统防护提出的一种网络安全系统设计构架;对其中的网络安全体系结构设计与实现进行了详细的分析;提出了安全体系结构模型和管理执行策略模型,并详述了其设计过程。把安全体系结构、安全策略管理的实现和网络安全的实现机制有机地结合在一起。     

Using the multi-living agent concept to investigate complex information systems

In this paper, we propose the multi-living agent (MLA) concept based on the of analysis the characteristics of complex information systems, especially those systems that require multi-functional operations under strict restraint strong countermeasures (SRSC) environment. First, we investigate the representation of the livelihood of the system under the SRSC conditions, and obtain the basic dynamical presentation of the MLA from the profile of the system's function. Next, we propose the concept of the living...     

Microsoft SQL Server数据库的安全策略及实现方法

结合正虹集团管理信息系统的开发,探讨了Microsoft SQL Server基于客户机／服务器结构的大型关系数据库系统中的安全管理策略一一安全帐户认证,访问许可确认,许可设置,根据信息系统开发过程中遇到的安全问题,从应用系统安全设计角度,给出了以下实现管理信息系统数据库安全方法的设计及实现过程一一身份验证,存取控制,隔离控制,审计和数据加密。     

ManufAg: a multi-agent-system framework for production control of complex manufacturing systems

In this paper, we present a framework for the implementation of multi-agent-systems for production control of complex manufacturing systems. We present the results of a requirement analysis for production control systems for complex manufacturing systems; then we describe the framework design criteria. Our framework supports the inclusion of distributed hierarchical decision-making schemes into the production control. Furthermore, in order to increase the coordination abilities of multi-agent-systems, we follow the decision-making and staff agent architecture suggested in the PROSA reference architecture. We indicate the usage of the framework for designing and implementing an agent-based production control system for semiconductor manufacturing processes in a case study.     

简析计算机网络桌面安全管理系统在企业内网中的实践

目前,众多企业构建了计算机网络管理系统,企业内网在企业发展过程中发挥了巨大的作用,但其中也存在一些安全问题。因此,我们需要应用计算机网络桌面安全管理系统,以保证数据的安全、稳定。通过分析计算机网络桌面安全管理系统在企业内网中的运作情况,提出了一些有价值的参考意见。