Samuel J. Alper, Ph.D.

Dr. Alper has a Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has expertise in healthcare, process analysis, and patient and employee safety. In healthcare, he has conducted hundreds of hours of observations with health care practitioners in inpatient and outpatient settings and in adult and pediatric hospitals to analyze the sub-systems and processes of care. With these data, Dr. Alper has facilitated hazard analyses, examined patterns of error, and assisted in the guidance of system redesigns.

He is familiar with human factors in the use of numerous medical products and technologies. His experience includes research studies evaluating bar coded medication administration and the implementation of a bi-directional link between the provider order entry system and the pharmacy computer system. He has authored papers regarding the prevalence of healthcare workers’ violations in the medication administration process before and after the implementation of technology, process improvement in the diagnostic testing process, and designing the healthcare system to fit the healthcare practitioner.

Dr. Alper’s experience with workplace safety includes analysis of hazards and human errors and an in-depth knowledge regarding the characteristics of work systems that may influence violations of safety protocol in work settings. Dr. Alper found that even where company and facility safety procedures and protocols exist and are understood by workers, other system influences may deter worker compliance with rules.

Dr. Alper has worked on projects involving industrial machinery, construction equipment, ladders, and personal protective equipment and has examined issues such as lock out / tag out, falls, training, written instructions, and warnings. In addition, Dr. Alper has examined why individuals may engage in unsafe behaviors during recreational activities and has evaluated the hazards and risks associated with consumer products. He has assisted in product redesign for product recalls, guided the creation of instructions for design revisions, and interacted with the Consumer Product Safety Commission throughout the recall process.

Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, Patel NR, Kaushal R, Escoto KH, Brown RL, Alper SJ, Arnold JM, Shalaby TM, Murkowski K, Karsh, B. A human factors framework and study of the effect of nursing workload on patient safety and employee quality of working life. BMJ Quality & Safety 2011; 20:15–24.

Karsh B, Wetterneck T, Holden RJ, Rivera-Rodriguez AJ, Faye H, Scanlon M, Carayon P, Alper SJ. Bar coding in medication administration. In: Handbook of Healthcare Delivery Systems. Yih Y (ed), Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2010.

Alper S, Karsh B. A systematic review of the causes of safety violations in industry. Accident Analysis and Prevention 2009; 41(4):739–754.

Karsh B, Holden RJ, Escoto KH, Alper SJ, Scanlon M, Arnold J, Skibinski K, Brown R. Do beliefs about hospital technologies predict nurses’ perceptions of quality of care? A study of task-technology fit in two pediatric hospitals. International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction 2009; 25(5):374–389.

Holden RJ, Or CKL, Alper SJ, Rivera AJ, Karsh B. A change management framework for macroergonomic field research. Applied Ergonomics 2008; 39:459–474.

Alper SJ, Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, Patel N, Murkowski K, Shalaby TM, Karsh B. Violation prevalence after introduction of a bar coded medication administration system. 2nd Healthcare Systems Ergonomics and Patient Safety International Conference, Strasbourg, France, June 2008.

Holden RJ, Alper SJ, Scanlon MC, Murkowski K, Rivera AJ, Karsh B. Challenges and problem-solving strategies during medication management: A study of a pediatric hospital before and after bar-coding. 2nd Healthcare Systems Ergonomics and Patient Safety International Conference, Strasbourg, France, June 2008.

Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, Alper SJ, Shalaby T, Hung S-Y, Karsh B. Pediatric pharmacy workload: Good, bad, and … complicated! 2nd Healthcare Systems Ergonomics and Patient Safety International Conference, Strausburg, France, June 2008.

Alper SJ, Scanlon MC, Murkowski K, Patel N, Kaushal R, Karsh B. Routine and situational violations during medication administration. Proceeding, 9th International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management, São Palo, Brazil, March 2008.

Holden RJ, Alper SJ, Rivera AJ, Or CKL, Karsh B. Macroergonomic field research reframed: What can be (and has been) learned by field researchers from change management theory. Proceeding, 9th International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management, São Palo, Brazil, March 2008.

Rivera AJ, Alper SJ, Scanlon MC, Kaushal R, Murkowski K, Karsh B. Healthcare interruptions in the medication administration process. Proceeding, 9th International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management, São Palo, Brazil, March 2008.

Alper SJ, Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, Kaushal R, Shalaby TM, Karsh B. Using the technology acceptance model to predict violations in the medication administration process. Proceedings, 51st Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Baltimore, MD, October 2007.

Holden RJ, Alper SJ, Escoto KH, Kaushal R, Murkowski K, Patel N, Scanlon M, Karsh B. Nursing workload and its effect on patient and employee safety. Proceeding, 51st Annual Meeting of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society, Baltimore, MD, October 2007.

Karsh B, Escoto KH, Alper SJ, Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, et al. Do beliefs about hospital technologies predict nurses’ perceptions of their ability to provide quality care? A study in two pediatric hospitals. Presented at the 12th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction, Beijing, P.R. China, July 2007.

Hallock ML, Alper SJ, Karsh B. A macroergonomic work system analysis of the diagnostic testing process in an outpatient health care facility for process improvement and patient safety. Ergonomics 2006; 49(5–6):544–566.

Karsh B, Holden R, Alper SJ, Or CKL. A human factors engineering paradigm for patient safety: designing to support the performance of the healthcare professional. Quality and Safety in Health Care 2006; 15:59–65.

Alper SJ, Karsh B, Holden RJ, Scanlon MC, Patel N, Kaushal R. Protocol violations during medication administration in pediatrics. Paper presented at the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 50th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, 2006.

Alper S, Hallock M, Karsh B. A macroergonomic analysis of why outpatient diagnostic tests get and stay lost, with implications for patient safety. 8th International Symposium on Human Factors in Organizational Design and Management 2005; 257–252.

Karsh B, Alper SJ. Work system analysis: The key to understanding health systems. Volume 2, pp. 337–348. In: Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation. AHRQ Publication Nos. 050021 (1-4), Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2004.

Hallock M, Alper S, Karsh B. Process improvement in an outpatient clinic: Application of sociotechnical systems analysis. Proceedings, Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 47th Annual Meeting 2003; 1406–1410.

Hallock M, Alper S, Karsh B. A macroergonomic work system approach for process improvement in healthcare: The case of diagnostic testing. International Ergonomics Association Triennial Congress, 2003.

Book Chapters

Karsh B, Alper SJ. Work system analysis: The key to understanding health systems. Volume 2, pp. 337–348. In: Advances in Patient Safety: From Research to Implementation. AHRQ Publication Nos. 050021 (1-4), Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2004.

• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society
  • Newsletter editor for the Macroergonomics Technical Group, 2005–2008
  • Reviewed papers for the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society annual meeting, 2008–present
• Human Factors and Ergonomics Society – Chicago Chapter
  • Vice President, 2011
• American Society of Safety Engineers