Cognitive Systems Engineering in Health Care

Cognitive systems engineering has been widely and successfully applied in the design of safety critical systems such as nuclear power, aviation, and military command-and-control. More recently, these methods are being applied to the design of health and medical systems in order to improve health care quality, reduce errors and adverse events, and improve efficiencies. Cognitive Systems Engineering in Health Care provides an overview of cognitive systems engineering principles in the context of health care. It contains state-of-the-art examples of cognitive systems applications that can be adapted by health care practitioners interested in systematic engineering approaches to systems improvement.

The book highlights current cognitive engineering-oriented research, analyses, and applications in settings such as cardiac surgery, obstetrics, and emergency medicine. It focuses on the impact cognitive engineering analyses can have in supporting communication and coordination with health care teams. The text then demonstrates the use of cognitive engineering methods to inform the design of information technology. It then details the systematic adaptation and application of specific cognitive engineering methods in the medical domain. The book concludes with examples of how in-depth cognitive engineering analyses can lead to demonstrated improvements in health care environments.

Through a series of sample studies, the book gives you a deeper understanding of how cognitive engineering approaches might be applied in the health care domain. You’ll see common themes that underline the complexity of the health care domain and this insight can build a deep respect for the expertise of the practitioners who work in it. By identifying the abstractions that hold constant in this domain, you can build solutions for that will evolve to handle new applications, challenges, and approaches.

Catherine M. Burns, Ann M. Bisantz, Rollin J. Fairbanks