Using Healthcare Failure Mode and Effect Analysis to Reduce Intravenous Chemotherapy Errors in Chinese Hospitalized...

Intravenous chemotherapy administration is a high-risk process; attention must be paid to preventing errors that might occur during the administration of chemotherapy.

The aim of this study is to investigate whether the healthcare failure mode and effect analysis (HFMEA) is a valid proactive method to apply to chemotherapy administration in the Chinese oncology inpatient setting.

A multidisciplinary team created a flow diagram of the chemotherapy administration process and potential failure modes were identified and evaluated using a hazard-scoring matrix. Using a decision tree, failure mode recommendations were made. Chemotherapy error rates before and after the HFMEA were compared.

A total of 5 failure modes were identified with high hazard scores, and 15 recommendations were made. After the intervention, the chemotherapy error rate decreased significantly from 2.05% to 0.17%.

The complexity of intravenous chemotherapy makes it vulnerable to error, and with serious consequences. Multiple errors can occur during ordering, preparing, compounding, dispensing, and administering the chemotherapy. The process of HFMEA helped reduce the chemotherapy error rate in Chinese hospitalized patients.

Clinicians in oncology can take effective measures to avoid chemotherapy errors using the HFMEA.