What is Human Factors Engineering?
Human factors engineering (HFE) is an applied science that pulls from several disciplines to consider what is known about human capabilities and limitations when designing devices, instruments, products, processes, systems, work environments, and even buildings. Anywhere people interact with something, there are human factors to consider – perceptual, cognitive, emotional, social, cultural, etc. When applied to healthcare, HFE has amazing potential for understanding and avoiding errors, the safety of devices and tools, provider competency, provider education, and even patient compliance.
Thinking Differently about Errors and “Human-ness”
- Patient Safety Lessons from the BP Oil Disaster
- FDA’s CDRH [video] describes integration of human factors engineering into medical device design to reduce use error
- Bad Human Factors Designs
- Nielsen’s Usability Heuristics
- Health Information Technology Failures
- Other MI2 Articles on Human Factors
Human Factors Resources and Centers
- The National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare (NCHFEH) – To Better Is Human®
- Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
- Cognitive Technologies Laboratory, University of Chicago
- VA National Center for Patient Safety
- University of Wisconsin System Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety
- FDA Human Factors Program
- Usability Toolkit
- University of Texas Human Factors Research Project
- University of Maryland Human Factors Research Program
Human Factors at MedStar:
The National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare (NCHFEH) – To Better Is Human®
The National Center for Human Factors Engineering in Healthcare is a unique human factors engineering scientific center that includes a core staff (physician-researcher with human factors engineering training, two Human Factors Engineering Research Scientists, a research assistant, and an administrative coordinator), and both intramural and extramural affiliated faculty from multiple domains and specialties, liaisons with essentially all clinical specialty areas, and close collaborations with several Human Factors Engineering academic programs including the University of Buffalo Department of Industrial Systems Engineering, and the George Mason University Department of Psychology Human Factors and Applied Cognition