Abstract
The Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) has experienced broad adoption in healthcare. Sixteen healthcare FMEA risk assessments were collected from institutions across the country. Criteria to assess these risk results was developed: Inclusion of a multi-disciplinary team; process flow, identified failure-modes, consequences, causes, controls/safeguards; consideration of more than one fail-point, cause, consequence including both omissions and commissions; cross study comparison of elements; frequency/consequence assessment validated with data. Numerous risks have been identified using FMEAs, however, the analyses of similar processes by different teams produced very different results. Failure-modes and causes described in one FMEA study may be overlooked or unspecified in another study of the same topic. Conducting a review across FMEAs not only captured common risks across the studies but provided a more comprehensive assessment of the pool of existing risks. In comparison with other high risk industries, healthcare is teeming with low and high impact risks - this is true for both the frequency and volume of potential failure modes. Still, at this stage in the use of FMEAs, there is evidence of truncation of inquiry in the specification of potential failures and causes. The criteria developed through this study can also be used prospectively in the form of a checklist to improve risk assessment results.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | 10th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management 2010, PSAM 2010 |
Place of Publication | Red Hook, NY |
Publisher | Curran Associates Inc. |
Pages | 2650-2658 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Volume | 4 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781622765782 |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Event | 10th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management 2010, PSAM 2010 - Seattle, WA, United States Duration: 7 Jun 2010 → 11 Jun 2010 |
Other
Other | 10th International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment and Management 2010, PSAM 2010 |
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Country/Territory | United States |
City | Seattle, WA |
Period | 7/06/10 → 11/06/10 |
Keywords
- FMEA
- Healthcare
- Patient safety
- Risk assessment