Failure Mode and Effects Analysis: A Useful Tool for Risk Identification and Injury Prevention

Abstract

Careful, in-depth, and timely analysis of a medical error occurring in the ED setting is an essential element of any solid safety plan, regardless of whether such an event actually has caused patient harm. Conducting a root cause analysis or another type of retrospective investigation helps teach us valuable lessons about how to redesign our systems in health care and prevent the error from occurring the next time. But how do we know that a “redesigned” system or a change in a process will work, or for that matter, how do we know that the new process will be any safer than the one we abandoned? The answer lies within a lesser-used proactive risk management technique called Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Susan Paparella, Bux-Mont Chapter, is Director for Consulting Services, Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP*), Huntingdon Valley, Pa, and a member of ENA's LUNAR III Workgroup.