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. 2011 Nov-Dec;24(6):745-51.
doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2011.06.100255.

Information chaos in primary care: implications for physician performance and patient safety

John W Beasley  1 , Tosha B Wetterneck, Jon Temte, Jamie A Lapin, Paul Smith, A Joy Rivera-Rodriguez, Ben-Tzion Karsh
Affiliations

Information chaos in primary care: implications for physician performance and patient safety

John W Beasley et al. J Am Board Fam Med. 2011 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of information chaos as it applies to the issues of patient safety and physician workload in primary care and to propose a research agenda.

Methods: We use a human factors engineering perspective to discuss the concept of information chaos in primary care and explore implications for its impact on physician performance and patient safety.

Results: Information chaos is comprised of various combinations of information overload, information underload, information scatter, information conflict, and erroneous information. We provide a framework for understanding information chaos, its impact on physician mental workload and situation awareness, and its consequences, and we discuss possible solutions and suggest a research agenda that may lead to methods to reduce the problem.

Conclusions: Information chaos is experienced routinely by primary care physicians. This is not just inconvenient, annoying, and frustrating; it has implications for physician performance and patient safety. Additional research is needed to define methods to measure and eventually reduce information chaos.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Clinical Vignette Illustrating Information Hazards
Figure 2
Figure 2
Information Chaos, Mental Workload, Situational Awareness, Moderators and Impacts
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

  • Guest family physician commentaries.
    Selinger HA. Selinger HA. J Am Board Fam Med. 2011 Nov-Dec;24(6):628-9. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2011.06.110272. J Am Board Fam Med. 2011. PMID: 22086801 No abstract available.

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