The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality did a study looking for proven methods of improving patient safety and healthcare outcomes. In that study, results of root cause analyses were used to find targets for improvement, look for effective techniques (proof of improvement), and provide potential areas for developing corrective actions (improvement initiatives).
The report defined root cause analysis several different ways, including:
Page 290: “Root cause analysis (RCA) is a structured analysis technique originally developed for human factors and systems engineering to retrospectively determine the interrelationship of component elements in causing an observed malfunction or accident. It has been adapted for use in medical and health care systems.”
Page 412: “…an in-depth examination of the data to identify factors in the care process that contribute to the errors…”
One comment in the report was:
“Wu examined the use of RCAs in medicine generally, and noted a very wide range of skill in performing RCAs accurately, a lack of best practices in reporting and followup, and the absence of peer-reviewed evidence of the effectiveness of RCAs or their cost-benefits tradeoffs.”
(Wu AW, Lipshutz AK, Pronovost PJ. Effectiveness and efficiency of root cause analysis in medicine. JAMA. 2008;299(6):685-7. PMID: 18270357)
That made me worry.
Were conclusions drawn in the report that were based on faulty root cause analysis?
After all, we have all seen poor root cause analysis done before. 5-Whys that lead to a preconceived result. Fault Trees built to prove a hypothesis (and missing other possibilities). People jumping to conclusions and not considering causes that they don’t understand.
I wondered … “What if the healthcare industry really adopted an effective root cause tool (TapRooT®) and then actually implemented it effectively? … What would happen?”
There’s more to TapRooT® than just sending people to a 2-Day Course.
To get the full benefits from TapRooT®, management must integrate it into their improvement efforts and manage it’s implementation and use.
That’s why we wrote Chapter 6 of the TapRooT® Book. To guide people to what an effective TapRooT® implementation looks like.
Implementation that includes a vision for improvement with a written plan that includes a sponsor, an improvement leader, and trained facilitators and peer reviewers. A plan that includes effective measurement and continuous improvement. A plan that includes management reviews and rewards for investigations and measured improvement success.
Work is required to make root cause analysis successful. If you are in the healthcare industry (or any other industry for that matter) read Chapter 6 and take the challenge to implement TapRooT® effectively at your facility. You’ll then be able to prove that TapRooT® was effective in helping you improve patient safety.