Examining vulnerabilities within our current healthcare system we propose borrowing two tools from the fields of engineering and design: a) Reason’s system approach (Reason 1990) and b) User-centered design (Norman and Draper 1986; Norman 1988). Both approaches are human-centered in that they consider common patterns of human behavior when analyzing systems to identify problems and generate solutions. This paper examines these two human-centered approaches in the context of healthcare. We argue that maintaining a human-centered orientation in clinical care, research, training, and governance is critical to the evolution of an effective and sustainable healthcare system.