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HIGHLIGHTS

- Human Factors and Ergonomics in healthcare: Interview with James Bagian
- Invitation to Exhibit at AHFE International 2010
- Specialized Journals and Newsletters
- Tools and Databases
- Interesting Articles
- Upcoming Conferences and Events in Ergonomics
- The AHFEI Proceedings on CD is now available
- Sponsorship of AHFE International 2010
- Contribute to the Applied Ergonomics International NEWS
- About Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International NEWS

If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to contribute, please contact the editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem . The opinions expressed in this newsletter are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not represent any institution or company.

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http://www.ahfe2010.org

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Human Factors and Ergonomics in healthcare: Interview with James Bagian

Interview with Dr. James Bagian a veteran NASA astronaut and the Chief Patient Safety Officer of the National Center for Patient Safety at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Bagian will deliver the opening keynote address at the AHFE International 2010 in Miami Florida.

Interviewer: Abbas Moallem
Interview conducted on Date: January 31, 2010
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Dr James Bagian, is a veteran NASA astronaut, the Chief Patient Safety Officer and the Director and Founder of the National Center for Patient Safety at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He has been responsible for the design, development, and deployment of numerous tools and methods to improve patient safety that are routinely used on an international basis. Dr. Bagian has also been the recipient of numerous awards and is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine.
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Question: A.M
How would you define the field of Human Factors and Ergonomics in health care? What are the particularities of HFE in health care? How would you define its boundaries?

Answer: J.M
Human factors and ergonomics and their application to healthcare is not substantially different than to other fields. Namely, I would view their application as that of assuring that the qualities of humans, both positive and negative, are appropriately taken into account so that design and mission objectives are achieved in an efficient manner. This would manifest itself in a number of ways. For example, medical devices would be designed from the outset so that they could be controlled by humans in a manner that reduced the potential for error as well as information would be displayed in a manner that minimized the chance for misinterpretation as well as was of such a nature so as to be readily applicable to enhance the care of the patient. As to boundaries, I think there are very few except those imposed by lack of creativity. Since healthcare by definition has to involve humans, at a minimum in the role of patient let alone as healthcare provider, there is no paucity of opportunities to improve the healthcare system.

Question: A.M.
What are the main elements that have helped the development of Human Factors in the Health Care industry in recent years?

Answer: J.M.
This is a tough one as I am not sure that the application of human factors to the health care industry is in anything but a primitive state at the present time. There is no question that in recent years there has been a continual increase in the appreciation of the positive impact that the application of human factors approaches can have on health care. However, there is still much to do. Hardly a week goes by without an obvious illustration in the lay press where the failure to apply human factors derived concepts has resulted in harm to numerous patients.

Question: A.M.
Where do you think main efforts should be focused on and more Human Factors and Ergonomics expertise sought?

Answer: J.M.
Device design is a fertile area for the application of human factors principles involving topics such as displays and controls design. The electronic health record (EHR) is another area where there is tremendous need. For example, the problem of nuisance alarms is a huge issue at the present time.

Question: A.M.
What would be the cost of the hazard and harm to patients as well as inefficiencies associated with health care user interfaces? How much money can be saved by implementing the HFE into the process?

Answer: J.M.
No idea as to the dollar amount but it is substantial.

Question: A.M.
As a veteran NASA astronaut, and Chief Patient Safety Officer, what are your thoughts on the development of this field moving forward? Are there, for example, any areas that future Human Factors professionals need to seek more training or expertise on?

Answer: J.M.
As I mentioned earlier, there is no shortage of problems that require work. In order for human factors trained individuals to have maximal impact they will need to gain actual subject matter expertise in the health care area. I think that this is true because the level of ignorance on the part of health care professionals with respect to human factors is so great that they will be unlikely to bring problems to the HFE community on their own.

A.M.: Thank you.

Invitation to Exhibit at AHFE International 2010

The AHFE 2010 will expect hundreds of scientists, academics and professionals, representing research institutions, universities, and companies from all over the world. AHFE 2010 will be held in Miami, Florida, one of the most exciting locations in the USA.

The AHFE 2010 aims to attract a variety of related product and technology companies with its Exhibition. We have created a very attractive package for registration at the Exhibition.

Exhibitors who have committed to exhibit early will have a better opportunity in booth location selection, plus the opportunity to be listed in the Advance Program that will be distributed worldwide.
For more information, please contact Dr. Abbas Moallem Exhibits@ahfe2010.org , Communication and Exhibit Chair.

For more information visit:
http://www.ahfe2010.org/exhibits.html

Specialized Journal and Newsletters

“The Health and Safety Report,” The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS), January 2010.
http://www.ccohs.ca/ccohs/liaison/current.html

“Human Factor sand Ergonomics Society Bulletin,” Volume 53, Number 1, January 2010. 2009.http://www.hfes.org/Web/BulletinPdf/0110bulletin.pdf

“DoD Ergonomics Working Group NEWS,” Issue 100, January 2010.
http://www.ergoworkinggroup.org/ewgweb/SubPages/ProgramTools/Publications/2005Pubs/100DODEWGNews.pdf

NIOSH eNews, Volume 7, Number 9 , January 2010.
http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews/enewsV7N9.html

Interesting Articles

“Patient Safety: Conversation to Curriculum,” New York Times, January 25, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/health/26error.html?ref=science

“Behavior: Too Much Sitting Shortens Lives, Study Suggests,” New York Times, January 19, 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/health/26beha.html?ref=health

“Catching Hospital Workers Dirty-Handed,” NPR.COM, January 31, 2010.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123139695

“Study: Humans Were Born To Run Barefoot,” NPR.COM, January 27, 2010.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123031997

“Audio slideshow: The first X-rays,” BBC, 25 November 2009
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8479609.stm

“New wheelchair that can be controlled by the tongue,” January 22, 2010
http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/health/2010/01/22/hendricks.tongue.wheelchair.cnn

“Medical Detectives Focus On Myopia,” NPR, January 11 2010
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122374802

Bright Lights, Big Headache: A Study Explains
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122406376

Tools and Databases

Upcoming Events and Conferences 2010

Announcements

CALL FOR PAPER: April 27 - May 02, 2010:Decision Making in a Changing Economic Environment, Bali, Indonesia,
http://www.gmconference.ca

CALL FOR PAPER: July 20-23, 2010: Emerging Technologies for Online Learning Symposium, San Jose, California, USA
http://www.sloanconsortium.org/ET4Online

CALL FOR PAPER: 7-10 November, 2010: The 9 th Pan-Pacific Conference on Ergonomics ( PPCOE 2010) Kaohsiung, Taiwan
www.est.org.tw/ppcoe2010

CALL FOR PAPER: Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, Special Issue on eHealth and Services Computing in Healthcare,
http://www.jtaer.com/

The AHFEI Proceedings on CD is now available, Order it Now

Order the AHFE International 2008 Proceedings. This is an important resource for your digital library for it contains over 500 papers with an easy search feature.
To order please contact Laura Abell, conference administrator at: aeiadmin@insightbb.com.
Unite Price: $75 US includes shipping and handling

Sponsorship of the AE International 2010 Conference

Organizations wishing to sponsor a special event or to be a general sponsor of the conference are welcome to contact Dr. Abbas Moallem (Abbas.Moallem@sjsu.edu).

Contribute to Applied Ergonomics International NEWS

We welcome your input to the Applied Ergonomics International NEWS. Please send us interesting news, short articles, interesting websites, etc. We will consider your comments and contributions for upcoming issues. Please send your contributions to the editor Dr. Abbas Moallem (Abbas.Moallem@sjsu.edu).

Contribute to Applied Ergonomics International NEWS

We welcome your contribution to the Applied Ergonomics International NEWS. Please send us interesting news, short articles, interesting websites, etc. We will consider your comments and contributions for upcoming issues. Please send your contribution to the editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem (abbas.moallem@sjsu.edu).

Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International NEWS

The Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International NEWS is a newsletter about Ergonomics and Human Factors topics, The Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International 2010 conference deadlines and activities, the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics International 2010 Exhibition, news in the area of Ergonomics and Human Factors, and more. If you have any questions or comments, or if you would like to contribute, please contact the editor, Dr. Abbas Moallem abbas.moallem@sjsu.edu. The opinions that are expressed in this Newsletter are the sole responsibility of its authors and do not represent any institution or company.
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