Patient Safety

There is evidence that health information technology (HIT) is central to improving safety and quality of health service. But research has also documented the ability of health information systems to introduce new types of errors (i.e. technology-induced errors) that arise from the design and development, the implementation and customization, or the interactions between the operation of a technology and the new work processes that arise from a technology’s use.
Within this theme we are engaged in a number of project activities:

• Co-chairing the launch of a new working group on patient safety informatics within the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)
• Critically review of initiatives that address safe HIT system design, build, implementa-tion and use in a non-exhaustive set of exemplar countries identified by searching the websites of regional and national agencies and programs in England, Denmark, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada and Australia.
• Analysis of reports on adverse drug events in the Oncology Department at Aalborg Hospital in relation to a newly implemented medication administration system (ONCMED).