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The systems approach to medicine: controversy and misconceptions.
BMJ Qual Saf. 2014 Aug 7;
Authors: Dekker SW, Leveson NG
Abstract
The 'systems approach' to patient safety in healthcare has recently led to questions about its ethics and practical utility. In this viewpoint, we clarify the systems approach by examining two popular misunderstandings of it: (1) the systematisation and standardisation of practice, which reduces actor autonomy; (2) an approach that seeks explanations for success and failure outside of individual people. We argue that both giving people a procedure to follow and blaming the system when things go wrong misconstrue the systems approach.
PMID: 25104796 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]