OTHER EXAMPLES
The Department of Pathology has used root cause analysis for a variety of variances and, through this tool, has identified system changes that were indicated. When reviewing why patient samples had been reversed during testing, the team discovered that those particular tests required more manipulation and concentration—yet were being performed in a part of the laboratory closest to the hall where technologists were subject to frequent interruptions. By moving the activity to a quieter area, errors were reduced to a nonoccurrence level.
The use of root cause analysis also requires a cultural change. Baylor University Medical Center’s move to occurrence reporting on the Web has generated more reports and more openness. However, there is still room for improvement. We encountered a situation in which a technician was late drawing blood, causing a delay in the administration of a drug. However, the next technician came at the originally scheduled time for the drug level test, without realizing that the timing had been delayed. When the team investigated this incident, the nurse involved
asked, “Who’s going to get in trouble for this? Will it be the first person who drew blood too late or the second who came too soon?” We had to explain that the purpose of the investigation and analysis was to look at the entire operation and determine how to improve the system—not to identify who was at fault. With root cause analysis, the focus is on the what (the event) and the why (the system), not the who.