A systems approach to managing the risk of healthcare acquired infection in an acute hospital setting supported by human factors ergonomics, data science, data governance and AI

• Published in: Ergonomics pp. 1 - 19
• Main Authors: Ward, Marie E, Geary, Una, Brennan, Rob, Vining, Rebecca, McKenna, Lucy, O'Connell, Brian, Bergin, Colm, Byrne, Declan, Creagh, Donncha, Fogarty, Mary, Healy, Una, McDonald, Grainne, Ebiele, Malick, Crane, Martin, Pham, Minh-Khoi, Bendechache, Malika, Bezbradica, Marija, Liang, Junli, Doyle, Brian, Guilfoyle, John, Shuhaiber, Arwa, McDonald, Nick
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 08-09-2024
• Subjects: AI; risk; healthcare acquired infection (HCAI); Complex systems; socio-technical systems analysis (STSA)
• ISSN: 0014-0139; 1366-5847; 1366-5847
• DOI: 10.1080/00140139.2024.2396527

Innovative approaches are needed for managing risk and system change in healthcare. This paper presents a case study of a project that took place over two years, taking a systems approach to managing the risk of healthcare acquired infection in an acute hospital setting, supported by an Access Risk Knowledge Platform which brings together Human Factors Ergonomics, Data Science, Data Governance and AI expertise. Evidence for change including meeting notes and use of the platform were studied. The work on the project focused on first systematically building a rich picture of the current situation from a transdisciplinary perspective. This allowed for understanding risk in context and developing a better capability to support enterprise risk management and accountability. From there a linking of operational and risk data took place which led to mapping of the risk pattern in the hospital.