Sessions - August 26, 2013

Managing Human Factors and Ergonomics within Healthcare … Building the Business Case

W. Tim McGlothlin, C.P.E., executive director, The Ergonomics Center | Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Managing human factors and ergonomics within the manufacturing sector has long been viewed as value-added by progressive organizations. This presentation frames the business case within the healthcare sector as costs and patient volumes continue to increase. This presentation serves as an introduction to the general topic of ergonomics, its benefits, MSD risk factors, current ergonomics/human factors challenges related to the graying and obese workforce, and a summary of several healthcare-related research projects.

Developing and Nurturing Collaborative Partnerships with Undergraduate IE Programs

Laura Moody, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of industrial engineering, Mercer University

Interest in the application of industrial engineering principles (especially human factors) to problems of healthcare delivery and patient safety is growing at a breakneck pace. The number of opportunities for improvement can often outstrip the resources of the industrial engineering and management engineering staff of a hospital or other healthcare provider. If you are located near a university, a collaborative partnership with an undergraduate IE program can be beneficial to both the healthcare provider and the university program. Appropriately designed and managed projects can be completed by undergraduate individuals or teams in a way that provides a rich learning experience for undergraduate students and a useful outcome for the hospital. The keys to a successful collaborative effort include mutual understanding of needs and capabilities, proper scope and planning, and clear points of contact for the student.

This session will include information about an ongoing collaborative arrangement between a major healthcare provider and a private university, a number of case studies illustrating the successes and challenges involved in using undergraduate teams to address projects in the hospital, and lessons learned that will help you develop your own collaborative arrangement. 

In this session, you will learn about:

• Developing a collaborative partnership
• The options for projects – short class projects, larger term projects, senior design, undergraduate research, etc.
• What works well and what does not work so well
• The joys and challenges of working with undergraduates

Making the Business Case for Ergonomics Programs in Healthcare: A Win-Win for Staff and Patient Safety

Lynda Enos, R.N., C.P.E., ergonomic/human factors consultant, HumanFit LLC 

This session provides an overview of a systematic approach to building a business case that supports implementation of sustainable evidence based ergonomics initiatives that are compatible with a healthcare organization’s culture, current and future business goals and clinical programs.

Examples from safe patient handling programs in a variety of hospitals will be used to demonstrate how ergonomics efforts can reduce the risk of injury for healthcare staff and patients and provide financial and service delivery benefits to healthcare organizations.

In this session, you will learn about: 

• Understanding the full costs and benefits of an ergonomics program or project to a health care facility
• Identifying resources and tools that can assist to implement and measure return on investment of ergonomics initiatives

Use of Lean Tools in Architectural Design to Develop Ergonomic Healthcare Work Environments

Amanda Mewborn, R.N., senior healthcare operational planner, Perkins+Will

Working in healthcare can be a dangerous and physically taxing job. Patient care is not the only physically demanding aspect of providing healthcare to patients. Some of the many other factors facing healthcare workers include traveling long distances, repetitive motions, interaction with heavy equipment, and use of information technology. This session will explore the impact of architectural designs on the physical demands of healthcare workers. Specifically, the session will look at several case studies that utilized lean tools and methodologies to improve architectural designs for the benefit of workers in healthcare environments. 

In this session, you will learn about:

• The human factor-related dangers of working in healthcare, and the impact of the dangers on the workforce.
• How architectural designs can impact the work environment for healthcare workers.
• Three lean tools that can be utilized to improve architectural designs by easing the ergonomic burden on the healthcare worker.

To Better is Human®: Using a Human Factors Systems Approach to Rethink Errors

Vicki R. Lewis, Ph.D., scientific director and usability division chief, MedStar’s National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare

Understanding Nurse Liability

Joyce Holshouser Benton, R.N., risk control director, CNA Healthcare 

A review of closed claims will be utilized to identify current liability patterns and trends in nursing practice. The presentation will highlight types of situations most likely to have serious adverse consequences for both patients and nurses. 

In this session, you will learn about:

• The variation between historic and emerging nurse practice models.
• Professional liability risks to nurses in the practice of their profession.
• Data which nurses can use to benchmark their own outcomes.
• Recommendations to support nurses in managing professional liability risks

Improving the Reliability of Health Care Through The Application of Human Factors Engineering

Brian H. Fillipo, M.D., chief medical officer/chief quality officer, Guthrie Health

High quality health care requires much more than dedicated, well-trained providers with access to advanced technology. Healthcare is so complex and tightly coupled no one person can anticipate all the errors that might occur. Providers continue to rely on the “weak aspects of cognition” (short term memory, attention to details, vigilance, multitasking, etc.) to get the results we want and our patients deserve. Improving the quality, safety, and reliability of healthcare requires a paradigm shift. Many of the approaches that will help providers improve their reliability have already been introduced in other industries. One of the most powerful is the application of human factors engineering (HFE). 

HFE uses a variety of techniques to “put information into the environment” helping providers do the right thing on a reliable basis.  The basic concepts of HFE and how they can be applied to healthcare will be reviewed.  Real life examples will be given.

In this session, you will learn about:

• Why errors occur in healthcare
• The concepts of HFE
• The attendee will be able to give real life examples of their application to healthcare