This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: M2735v1 15/4/397    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Kilbridge, P. M. Articles by Classen, D. C. PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kilbridge, P. M. Articles by Classen, D. C.

The Informatics Opportunities at the Intersection of Patient Safety and Clinical Informatics

^a Department of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
^b St. Louis Children's Hospital, St. Louis, MO
^c Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT.

^_* Correspondence: Dr. Peter M. Kilbridge, St. Louis Children's Hospital, 3S-36 Administration, One Children's Place, St. Louis, MO 63110 (Email: kilbridge_p{at}kids.wustl.edu).

Received for publication: 01/28/08; accepted for publication: 04/06/08.

Health care providers have a basic responsibility to protect patients from accidental harm. At the institutional level, creating safe health care organizations necessitates a systematic approach. Effective use of informatics to enhance safety requires the establishment and use of standards for concept definitions and for data exchange, development of acceptable models for knowledge representation, incentives for adoption of electronic health records, support for adverse event detection and reporting, and greater investment in research at the intersection of informatics and patient safety. Leading organizations have demonstrated that health care informatics approaches can improve safety. Nevertheless, significant obstacles today limit optimal application of health informatics to safety within most provider environments. The authors offer a series of recommendations for addressing these challenges.