What is the difference between high-leverage and low-leverage safety strategies?
High-leverage strategies fix the system; low-leverage strategies focus on the individual involved in an error. Since people cannot be expected to compensate for weak systems, error prevention tools that are designed to fix the system have a broader, more lasting impact (high-leverage), than those directed at changing human behavior (low-leverage). Since not all safety strategies are created equal,selecting the best strategy to remedy medication errors is not easy. Often, the most effective action is not obvious and the best error prevention tools to use in each situation are not clear, even when system-based causes have been identified. For more information about selecting strategies, click here.
