Healthcare team performance in time critical environments: Coordinating events, foraging, and system processes

Abstract

This review paper addresses issues in how healthcare providers search, obtain, and share resources in provider teams. Based in part on a System of Systems (SoS) analysis of provider coordination and resource flows, this paper expands the concepts of resource foraging theory and event dynamics to develop systematic methods for studying healthcare provider coordination. Process flow and human factors emphases from industrial engineering are used to address critical concerns of single-scale and multi-scale performance in healthcare delivery settings. Provider strategies for acquiring the information and resources needed for successful healthcare delivery are dependent on interactions between task requirements, time constraints, and provider coordination processes, as well as limitations of information and resource flow capabilities. These improved definitions and measures will enhance engineers' ability to contribute to improved patient care timeliness, effectiveness, quality, and safety.