Advancing Patient Safety: A Comprehensive Review Of Literature

Abstract

This literature review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the key topics and findings in patient safety research. The review covers a wide range of areas, including safety culture, health information technology, ethics in healthcare, artificial intelligence, clinical decision-support systems, monitoring and surveillance strategies, cybersecurity, virtual patients, pharmacogenomics, handoff tools, incident learning, telemedicine, quality improvement, communication and collaboration, mobile health applications, social determinants of health, teamwork and interprofessional collaboration, medication safety, machine learning in medicine, preventing medical errors, patient education, and leadership and safety culture. The findings highlight the importance of fostering a positive safety culture within healthcare organizations and the potential benefits of health information technology, such as clinical decision-support systems and artificial intelligence, in improving patient safety outcomes. The review also emphasizes the significance of monitoring and surveillance strategies, addressing cybersecurity challenges, and leveragin[1]g virtual patient platforms for training and education purposes. Ethical considerations, particularly in the context of pharmacogenomics and patient education, are explored, alongside the evaluation of handoff tools and incident learning as means to enhance patient safety. The review further examines the role of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic and emphasizes the need for a learning healthcare system through collaboration and knowledge sharing. Additionally, the impact of social determinants of health on patient safety is discussed, underscoring the importance of addressing health inequities. The review also emphasizes the value of teamwork, interprofessional collaboration, and effective communication in promoting patient safety. Furthermore, the potential of mobile health applications in self-management and the role of leadership in shaping safety culture are explored. In conclusion, this comprehensive review provides a valuable synthesis of the current literature on patient safety, offering insights into various domains and underlining the importance of continuous improvement in healthcare practices to ensure optimal patient safety outcomes.