Design and how it affects patient safety has become a focus for healthcare risk managers, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
When a serious safety event occurs, the risk manager conducts a root-cause analysis in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team to identify the primary issue that caused the event, the article said.
The analysis may identify a human factor that is related to the architectural design of the physical plant.
For instance, an event caused by low lighting, the staff in the care area may not even realize that the lighting may have been a factor.