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Medical Error: Is the Solution Medical or Cognitive?

Affiliations of the authors: School of Health Information Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 7000 Fannin Street, Suite 600, Houston, Texas 77225, USA (JZ, TRJ), Departments of Medical Informatics and Psychiatry, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, New York, New York 10032-3720 (VLP).

Abstract

Is the solution for medical errors medical or cognitive? In this AMIA2001 panel on medical error, we argued that medical error is primarily an issue for cognitive science and engineering, not for medicine, although the knowledge of the practice of medicine is essential for the research and prevention of medical errors. The three panelists presented studies that demonstrate that cognitive research is the foundation for theories of medical errors and interventions of error reductions.