"Do No Harm": Can Healthcare Live Up to It?

Abstract

The healthcare sector is a very important one in many countries and faces numerous quality and performance problems of great significance to all citizens who live there. Although there are many performance parallels between healthcare and other sectors, there are also numerous special issues and terminology, as well. Recent publications on medical errors have put the spotlight on the issue of safety in healthcare. There are opportunities for the healthcare sector to learn from other industries where many techniques and practices for preventing errors have already proved their worth. It is important and beneficial to encourage healthcare specialists to learn from other sectors the concepts, best practices, and tools for preventing errors and improving safety. This chapter addresses the key issues and challenges relating to the management and transfer of such knowledge and places them in the context of quality and knowledge management.