BACKGROUND Although conditions for high quality cardiovascular risk management in primary care in the Netherlands are favourable, there still remains a gap between practice guideline recommendations and practice. The aim of the current study was to identify determinants of cardiovascular primary care in the Netherlands. METHODS We performed a qualitative study, using semi-structured interview...

BACKGROUND Interest in human factors has increased across healthcare communities and institutions as the value of human centred design in healthcare becomes increasingly clear. However, as human factors is becoming more prominent, there is growing evidence of confusion about human factors science, both anecdotally and in scientific literature. Some of the misconceptions about human factors may ...

Communication errors are identified by the Joint Commission as the primary root cause of sentinel events across all categories. In addition, improving the effectiveness of communication among healthcare providers is listed as one of the Joint Commission's 2008 National Patient Safety Goals. Nursing programs are expected to graduate practice-ready nurses who demonstrate quality and safety in pat...

This response challenges the healthcare system to take full responsibility for the work environments created for health human resources. While the need for healthy work environments and teamwork in healthcare are inarguable, the fact is they are not a reality in today's health system. The authors suggest strategies to address this issue and identify the person or groups that should take respons...

The healthcare industry has experienced a proliferation of innovations aimed at enhancing life expectancy, quality of life, diagnostic and treatment options, as well as the efficiency and cost effectiveness of the healthcare system. Information technology has played a vital role in the innovation of healthcare systems. Despite the surge in innovation, theoretical research on the art and science...

Healthcare reform requires that hospitals take more accountability for providing the highest quality, most cost-effective care. It's accepted that nurses are critical in determining the quality of care in hospitals and nurse managers have the responsibility of ensuring that their staff members are capable of providing quality care. Although many factors can influence nurses' productivity and ab...

Healthcare organizations are facing the challenge of delivering high-quality services to their patients at affordable costs. To tackle this challenge, the Medical Informatics community targets at formalisms for developing decision-support systems (DSSs) based on clinical guidelines. At the same time, business process management (BPM) enables IT support for healthcare processes, e.g., based on w...