Modeling anesthesia medication delivery using the SEIPS 101 tools (October 2025)

Summary

Reducing the risk of patient harm during anaesthesia medication administration in perioperative settings has been a long-term goal in patient safety. SEIPS 101 tools provide a series of practice-orientated techniques to apply systems model in real clinical practice, potentially offering a straightforward approach to mapping perioperative medication delivery systems.

Data was collected during direct observations of thirty-eight anaesthetics, totalling over 100 h on anaesthesia providers’ common tasks and interactions with people, environments, tools, and technologies. Observation data, notes, interviews, and literature were organised to create six SEIPS 101 tools demonstrating the complexity of anaesthesia medication delivery.

Content

The Anesthesia PETT Scan represents the facilitators and barriers associated with differences in individual expertise, preferences, and potential conflict between providers. 

• The People Map demonstrates the wide range of relevant individuals in medication delivery.
• The Task x Tools Matrix depicts the broad range of interconnected processes to provide anaesthesia. 
• The Journey Map describes the path used to deliver a medication. 
• The Anaesthesia Work System Interactions Map identifies necessary interactions that providers have with tools, tasks, people, and environment for successful anaesthetics. 
• The Outcome Matrix describes various stakeholder experiences and outcomes that contribute to overall system complexity. Identifying and describing the complexity in the anesthesia care delivery system is critical for effective and efficient process-centric interventions.

This systems analysis may increase awareness to the limitations of current approaches and improve upon methods and interventions for understanding errors, safety, and the nature of clinical expertise and decision making.