MacroErgonomics Safety and Health Laboratory

About the MacroErgonomic Safety and Health Laboratory

The MESH Lab is focused on using industrial and human factors engineering theories, design principles and methodologies to improve patient safety and health care employee safety. As the Figure below helps to demonstrate, the studies we undertake seek to understand how the fit or misfit of healthcare system components contributes to patient and clinician outcomes such as adverse drug events, medication safety protocol violations, medical errors, health information technology acceptance and use, clinician job satisfaction and burnout, and clinician mental workload. The left side of the figure has a pyramid representing the multilevel nature of the healthcare system. The results of the interactions among the system components in the multilevel system are what we seek to better understand.  To learn more about how we use the pyramid to guide our research, see some of our recent publications:

• Rivera, A. J. and Karsh, B. (2010). Interruptions and Distractions in Healthcare: Review and Reappraisal. Quality and Safety in Healthcare, 19(4), 304-312.
• Alper, S. J. and Karsh, B. (2009). A systematic review of the causes of safety violations in industry. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 41(4), 739-754
• Holden, R. J. and Karsh, B. (2009). A theoretical model of health information technology behavior. Behaviour and Information Technology, 28(1), 21-38.
• Karsh, B. (2009). Clinical Practice Improvement and Redesign: How Change in Workflow can be Supported by CDS. White Paper sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. AHRQ Publication No. 09-0054-EF. http://healthit.ahrq.gov/images/jun09cdsworkflow/09_0054_ef.html

The MESH lab and its director, Dr. Ben-Tzion Karsh, are actively involved in the UW-Madison Systems Engineering Initiative in Patient Safety

Mission

Create, acquire, assimilate, apply, and transfer knowledge, using human factors engineering, for the design, analysis, improvement and implementation of complex health care systems for the purpose of improving health care patient and employee safety and health.

Vision

To improve the health and well-being of all health care employees and their patients through research that leads to the design of safe health care systems.

Location

Affiliations

• Industrial and Systems Engineering
• Systems Engineering Initiative in Patient Safety
• Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement