Approximately 13 billion laboratory tests are administered every year in the United States, but not every result is timely or accurate. Laboratory missteps prevent patients from receiving appropriate, necessary, and sometimes lifesaving care. These medical errors are the third-leading cause of death in the nation. To help reverse this trend, a research team from the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AeroAstro) Engineering Systems Lab and Synensys, a safety management contractor, examined the ecosystem of diagnostic laboratory data. Their findings, including six systemic factors contributing to patient hazards in laboratory diagnostics tests, offer a rare holistic view of this complex network ' not just doctors and lab technicians, but also device manufacturers, health information technology (HIT) providers, and even government entities such as the White House. By viewing the diagnostic laboratory data ecosystem as an integrated system, an approach based on systems...
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