A Human Factor Approach to Safer Care: Designing Work that Works

Wednesday, September 23, 2026, 1:00 PM - Wednesday, October 21, 2026, 3:00 PM, Online

Human factors is an established discipline that helps us understand where human capabilities align with, or fall short of, system expectations and constraints. This introductory, five-week virtual course features all new content from the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors team. The team's scientists will explain why even the smartest and most experienced people make mistakes, explore key principles of perception, memory, and cognition through interactive activities, and show how to apply these insights to improve workflows, quality initiatives, and patient safety efforts. In the final week, participants will have the opportunity to bring real challenges from their organizations to the human factors team for collaborative problem-solving.

Format
This virtual course is a five-week series held between September 23, 2026 - October 21, 2026. Sessions are held each week on Wednesday from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT. Please see the course brochure for the full schedule of course dates and topics.

1. Explain how human perceptual, cognitive, and memory limits affect interactions with systems and technology.
2. Evaluate clinical tasks to determine where system demands exceed human cognitive capacity.
3. Analyze how sensory modalities, attention limits, and resource demands shape clinicians’ ability to notice and act on critical information.
4. Describe how working memory, long-term memory, and mental calculations support or hinder clinical performance.
5. Evaluate clinical decision making by identifying how cognitive processes and biases influence judgment and error.
6. Apply cognitive modeling to identify how AI outputs interact with human perception, cognition, and decision making
7. Contrast how individuals and teams build, maintain, and lose situation awareness.

Registration Fees: $595.00
Registration Deadline: September 22, 2026
General registration includes the full five-week course series. Please make sure you can attend all classes in the series before purchasing.

In support of improving patient care, MedStar Health is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Credit Designation

This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 8.00 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.

Physicians: MedStar Health designates this live activity for a maximum of 8.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. 

Nurses: This activity is approved for 8.00 ANCC contact hours. Nurses should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Pharmacists: This activity is approved for 8.00 contact hours. This learning activity is knowledge-based. The Universal Activity Number for this program is JA4008151-0000-26-071-L05-P.

Physician Assistants:

MedStar Health has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 8.00 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ Physician (8.00 hours), Interprofessional Continuing Education (8.00 hours), Non-Physician Member of the Healthcare Team (8.00 hours), Nurse - ANCC (8.00 hours), Pharmacist - ACPE (8.00 hours), Physician Assistant - AAPA (8.00 hours)

This five-week series will be held virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Mitigation of Relevant Financial Relationships

MedStar Health adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education.

Individuals in a position to control the content of this CE activity, including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others are required to disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies. An ineligible company is any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. All of the relevant financial relationships listed below have been mitigated prior to the commencement of the activity.

The following Planning Committee Members and Faculty have Non-Clinical Exceptions: Joshua Biro, PhD | Lucy Bocknek, MS | Terry Fairbanks, MD, MS | Carole Hemmelgarn, MS, MS | Lubna Kousa, PharmD, MA, EM-CQSL | Zoe Pruitt, MA, CPPS | Raj Ratwani, PhD, MPH | Laura Schubel, MPH | Patricia Ann Spaar, MS, RN, CEN | Jacqueline Stark, MSM-PM, PMP | Megan Walling, MSPAS, PA-C

What are the course dates?
This virtual course is a five-week series held between September 23, 2026 - October 21, 2026. Sessions are held each week on Wednesday from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT. Please see the course brochure for the full schedule of dates and topics.
Session Dates:

• Wednesday, September 23, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

• Wednesday, September 30, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

• Wednesday, October 7, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

• Wednesday, October 14, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT

• Wednesday, October 21, 2026 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. EDT (optional coaching session)
  

Who is this course designed for?
This course is designed for professionals involved in shaping how work gets done in healthcare. This includes those in patient safety, quality, and risk; process improvement leaders; hospital and health system administrators; clinicians; and industry partners such as those in health technology and insurance. It is particularly useful for individuals who are trying to understand why breakdowns occur in complex systems and how to design work that better aligns with human capabilities.

What will the lectures be like?
Sessions are led by research faculty from the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare. Lectures are interactive and grounded in real-world application. Participants will be asked to engage in discussions, respond to prompts, and practice applying human factors concepts to practical scenarios. The focus is on building a new lens for understanding everyday challenges in healthcare work.

What if I miss a session?
Learners are strongly encouraged to attend all sessions. A recording of the missed session may be available upon request. Please note that Continuing Education (CE) credits are only available for attendance at the live, virtual sessions. Refunds are not available for missed sessions.

Do I need prior experience in human factors?
No prior experience is required. This is an introductory course that begins with foundational concepts and progresses into intermediate topics, including perception, attention, memory, and decision-making.

Is this the same content as the in-person Human Factors and Patient Safety workshop?
No, this is all new content. While the in-person program focuses on human factors methods, this series focuses on the underlying cognitive science, how people perceive, think, and act, and how those processes contribute to error and system performance.

What types of questions can I bring to the coaching session?
The final session is an open coaching session designed for applied discussion. Participants are encouraged to bring real challenges from their own organizations, including specific projects, persistent safety issues, or broader questions about system design. You may also choose to listen and learn from the experiences of others as many challenges are shared across organizations.

Are there any requirements beyond attending the weekly virtual sessions?
Learners must complete a brief evaluation after each session to claim CE credit hours. There are no pre-work or coursework requirements beyond attending the weekly virtual sessions.

What is the cancellation/refund policy?
Cancellations made in writing before September 15, 2026, will be entitled to a full refund. Cancellations made in writing between September 16 - 22, 2026, will be subject to a 50% penalty. No refunds will be given after September 22, 2026. Cancellations will not be accepted by telephone. In the unlikely event that the course is canceled, MedStar Health will refund the registration fee.

Please confirm you can attend all classes in the series before purchasing. Refunds are not available for missed classes after the September 22, 2026, cancellation deadline.