PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Sidney W A Dekker AU - Nancy G Leveson TI - The systems approach to medicine: controversy and misconceptions AID - 10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003106 DP - 2015 Jan 01 TA - BMJ Quality & Safety PG - 7--9 VI - 24 IP - 1 4099 - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/24/1/7.short 4100 - http://qualitysafety.bmj.com/content/24/1/7.full SO - BMJ Qual Saf2015 Jan 01; 24 AB - The ‘systems approach’ to patient safety in healthcare has recently led to questions about its ethics and practical utility. In this viewpoint, we clarify the systems approach by examining two popular misunderstandings of it: (1) the systematisation and standardisation of practice, which reduces actor autonomy; (2) an approach that seeks explanations for success and failure outside of individual people. We argue that both giving people a procedure to follow and blaming the system when things go wrong misconstrue the systems approach.