How to make the most of failure mode and effect analysis

Current accreditation standards issued by the Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) require hospitals to carry out a proactive risk assessment on at least 1 high-risk activity each year for each accredited program. Because hospital risk managers and patient safety managers generally do not have the knowledge or level of comfort for conducting a proactive risk assessment, they will appreciate the expertise offered by biomedical equipment technicians (BMETs), occupational safety and health professionals, and others. The skills that have been developed by BMETs and others while conducting job safety analyses or failure mode effect analysis can now be applied to a health care proactive analysis. This article touches on the Health Care Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (HFMEA) model that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center for Patient Safety developed for proactive risk assessment within the health care community. The goal of this article is to enlighten BMETs and others on the growth of proactive risk assessment within health care and also on the support documents and materials produced by the VA. For additional information on HFMEA, visit the VA website at www.patientsafety.gov/HFMEA.html.