Adaptation of US Department of Energy method of design basis accident selection to a study of the risks to patients in pediatric emergency medical care

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a standardized methodology to evaluate results of hazard analyses to identify generic risks and risk contributors for processes and systems. This DOE method, which includes the selection of design basis accidents from hazard analysis results, is being adapted to study risks in children's emergency medical care under a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The study will take Failure Mode and Effects Analysis results produced by various healthcare institutions on emergency care for children and identify significant generic risks and risk contributors related to children's emergency medical care. The idea is to leverage results of existing risk studies of pediatric emergency care at specific institutions to produce generic risk information on existing emergency care processes for children. This study will produce a Toolkit of the adapted method for analysis of results of existing healthcare risk assessments on any care process. While the basic concept of accident selection described in the DOE methodology will be used, adaptations will need to be made to accommodate variances expected to be faced in the healthcare domain. This paper will describe how the study will address these adaptations for pediatric emergency medical care.