Advances in Healthcare Human Factors and Informatics: Contributions from the 2024 Literature
Vignesh Subbian, Anthony SolomonidesSummary
Objective: To summarize significant research contributions published in 2024 related to human factors and organizational issues (HFOI) in healthcare and to select notable papers for the HFOI section of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Yearbook 2025.
Methods: We refreshed a previous search query for identifying HFOI research and executed the query in PubMed in January 2025. Papers were evaluated based on methodological rigor, contribution to understanding human-technology interactions in healthcare settings. The resulting articles were sent for external review to identity best paper candidates.
Results: We retrieved 1,939 articles related to HFOI, of which six articles were selected as candidates for best papers. The general themes from the best paper candidates include (1) applying user-centered design as a foundational principle, (2) optimizing data visualizations and information recall, (3) navigating complex clinical workflows, and (4) the role of interdisciplinary collaborations.
Conclusion: Human factors in health informatics continues to evolve toward more sophisticated, theory-driven approaches that integrate multiple disciplinary perspectives while maintaining practical applicability for real-world healthcare settings.