Research Profile

Lukasz Mazur, PhD

Professor, UNC School of Information & Library Science
Professor, UNC School of Medicine
Director, Division of Healthcare Engineering, Office of Quality Excellence
lmazur@med.unc.edu | (919) 962-6729

Expertise

Healthcare engineering management, continuous quality improvement, patient safety, workload, human performance, human factors, simulation-based training

Research

I am a recognized expert in Healthcare Engineering Management with a primary research focus on quality, wellbeing and patient safety efforts. My current efforts are focused on understanding:

  • How improvement programs relate to operational, wellbeing and patient safety outcomes;
  • How to develop and implement effective interventions supported by evolving technologies (e.g., artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), virtual reality (VR)) to enhance quality, wellbeing and patient safety; and
  • How mental workload and individual performance relate to each other during provider interactions with health information technology (HIT) and digital health applications.

In my efforts, I (with colleagues) successfully created a Human Factor Engineering Lab where we have systematically conducted over 1,000 hours of experiments to address quality, wellbeing and patient safety issues. My work has been well regarded as evidenced by the receipt of several awards (e.g., Academy of Outstanding Faculty Engaged in Extension Award; ‘Eschenbach’ Best Paper of the Year Award from the American Society of Engineering Management; UNC Innovation Center Award), publications in leading journals, presentations at international meetings and positions on national/international quality/safety/wellbeing-related committees.

Publications

Full list of Publications from Google Scholar

Selected/Representative Publications:

Books

  1. Marks LM and Mazur LM, with contributions from Chera B and Adams R. Engineering Patient Safety in Radiation Oncology, in CRC Press: Taylor and Francis Group. 2015.

Book Chapters

  1. Mazur LM, Marks LB, Das S, McGurk R, Adapa K, Amos A, Gu D, Shultz B, and Chera B.
    Patient Safety, In: Wolters Kluwer Health: 5th Edition of Khan’s Treatment Planning in Radiation Oncology. Chapter 1, pp. 1-25, 2021.
  2. Mazur LM, Keefe M, and Adams R. Culture of Safety, In: Washington and Leaver: Principles and Practice of Radiation Therapy. 4th edition. Chapter 18, pp. 350-365, 2014.
  3. Chera B, Mazur LM, Mosaly P, Marks LM. Error Avoidance, In: Perez & Brady’s Principles and Practice of Radiation Oncology.7th edition. 2018. Chapter 102, 44 pages.

Representative Articles

(*indicates my supervisory role of the leading author):

  1. *Mitchell C, Butler L, Holloway HD, Ra JH, Adapa K, Greenberg C, Marks LM, Ivester T, Tan X, Mazur LM. Operating Room Teams Display Acceptable Levels of Patient Safety Behaviors During Surgical Cases. Journal of Surgical Education. 2024;81(8):1105-1109. doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2024.05.005
  2. *Cole AC, Kwong E, Mhina C, King AJ, Mazur LM, Richardson DR. Perceptions on Tailored Messages from a Values Clarification Tool: A Mixed-methods Study of Older Adults with Cancer. Front. Commun. 2024;9:1347310. doi:10.3389/fcomm.2024.1347310
  3. *Foster M, Liu CC, Cole AC, Adapa K, Havill N, Mazur LM. Assessing SPARS’ Usability: An Aggregate Reporting Tool for Workplace Violence. Journal of User Experience. 2024;19(4):187-195.
  4. *Foster M, Mazur LM. Impact of Leadership Walkarounds on Operational, Cultural and Clinical Outcomes: A Systematic Review. BMJ Open Quality. 2023;12:e002284. doi: 10.1136/bmjoq-2023-002284
  5. Mazur LM, Adapa K, Meltzer-Brody S, Karwowski W. Towards Better Understanding of workplace factors contributing to hospitalist burden and burnout prior to COVID-19 pandemic. Applied Ergonomics. 2023;106:103884. doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103884
  6. *Adapa K, Ivester T, Shea C, Shultz B, DeWalt D, Persall, M, Dangerfield C, Burgess E, Mazur LM. The Effect of a System-level Tiered Huddle System on Reporting Patient Safety Events: An Interrupted Time Series Analysis. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2022;48(12):642-652. doi:10.1016/j.jcjq.2022.08.005.
  7. *McGurk R, Woch NK, Kosak TA, Mullins BT, Paradis KC, Kearney M, Roback D, Durney, J, Adapa K, Chera BS, Marks LB, Moran JM, Mak RH, Mazur LM. Multi-Institutional Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy Incident Learning: Evaluation of Safety Barriers Using a Human Factors Analysis and Classification System. Journal of Patient Safety. August 10, 2022 – Volume – Issue – 10.1097/PTS.0000000000001071. doi.org/10.1097/pts.0000000000001071
  8. *Kratzke I, Woods L, Adapa K, Kapadia MR, Mazur L. The Sociotechnical Factors Associated with Burnout in General Surgery Residents: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Accepted to Journal of Surgical Education. 2022;79(3):614-623.
    https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.11.006
  9. Mazur LM, Adams R, Mosaly P, Stiegler M, Nuamah J, Adapa K, Chera B, Marks LB. Impact of Simulation-based Training on Radiation Therapy Therapists Workload, Situation Awareness, and Performance. Advances in Radiation Oncology. 5(6):1106-1114. 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adro.2020.09.008
  10. *Judy G, Lindsay D, Mullins T, Mosaly P, Chera B, Mazur LM. Incorporating Human-Factors and Classification System (HFACS) into Analysis of Reported Near-misses and Incidents in Radiation Oncology. Practical Radiation Oncology. September 14, 2019 [published on-line ahead of print]. doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2019.09.005
  11. *Mullins B, McGurk R, Ronald W, McLeod R, Amos An PhD3; Gu D, Chera S, Marks L, Das S, Mazur LM. Human Error Bowtie Analysis to Enhance Patient Safety in Radiation Oncology. Practical Radiation Oncology. 9(6):465-478, 2019. doi.org/10.1016/j.prro.2019.06.022
  12. Mazur LM, Stokes S, McCreery J. Lean-Thinking: Implementation and Measurement in Healthcare Settings. Engineering Management Journal. 31(3):193-206, 2019. doi:10.1080/10429247.2019.1605957
  13. Mazur LM, Mosaly PR, Moore C, Marks L. Association of the Usability of Electronic Health Records With Cognitive Workload and Performance Levels Among Physicians. JAMA Netw Open. 2(4):e191709, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.1709
  14. *Mosaly P, Mazur LM, Fei Y, Guo H, Merck D, Moore C, Marks L, Mostafa J. Relating Task Demand, Mental Effort and Task Difficulty with Physicians’ Performance during Interactions with Electronic Health Records (EHRs). International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction. 34(5):467-475, 2018. doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2017.1365459
  15. Mazur LM, Johnson K, Pooya P, Chadwick J, McCreery J. Incorporating Lean Exploration Loops into Healthcare Facility Design: Programming Phase. Health Environments Research & Design Journal. 10(3):116-130, 2017. doi.org/10.1177/1937586716680063
  16. Mazur LM, Campbell A, Planting D, Scott B, Lowen S, Mosaly P, Belger A, McCreery J, Chera B, Marks L. Positive Effects of Neurofeedback Intervention on Radiation Oncology Physicians’ Workload during Go/No-Go Performance Test. Travail Humain. 80(1):113-132, 2017. doi.org/10.3917/th.801.0113
  17. Mazur LM, Mosaly P, Moore C, Comitz E, Yu F, Falchook A, Eblan M, Hoyle, L, Tracton G, Chera B, Marks LB. Towards a Better Understanding of Workload and Performance during Physician-Computer Interactions. Journal of American Medical Informatics Association. 23(6):1113-1120, 2016. doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocw016
  18. Mazur LM, McCreery J, Chen S. Quality Improvement in Hospitals: What Triggers Behavioral Change? Journal of Healthcare Engineering. 4(4):621-648, 2012. doi.org/10.1260/2040-2295.3.4.621
  19. Mazur LM, Mosaly P, Jackson M, Chang S, Burkhardt K, Adams R, Jones E, Hoyle L, Xu J, Rockwell J, Marks L. Quantitative Assessment of Workload and Stressors in Clinical Radiation Oncology. International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology and Physics. 1:83(5):e571-6, 2012. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrobp.2012.01.063
  20. Mazur LM, McCreery J, Rothenberg L. Facilitating Lean Learning and Behaviors in Hospitals during the Early Stages of Lean Implementation. Engineering Management Journal. 24(1):11-22, 2012. doi.org/10.1080/10429247.2012.11431925