Root cause analysis (RCA) is a widely recognized retrospective strategy for learning from failure that is challenging to implement. This series of webinars will feature an innovative approach to RCA that expands on the concept to facilitate its use in incident investigations. Instructors for the series will include Dr. Terry Fairbanks and Dr. Tejal K. Gandhi.

Root cause analysis (RCA) is a recognized approach to examining failures by identifying causal factors to define improvement effort. This session will discuss challenges to the effective use of RCA results and examine an approach to present them that supports effective improvement action.

Patient falls are common sentinel events. The latest revision of this toolkit shares insights on applying the tenets of root cause analysis to falls investigations.

The National Quality Forum has defined 29 never events—patient safety problems that should never occur, such as wrong-site surgery and patient falls. Since 2003, Minnesota hospitals have been required to report such incidents. The 2021 report summarizes information about 508 adverse events that were reported, representing a significant increase in the year covered. Earlier reports document a fairly consistent count of adverse events. The rise reflected here is likely due to demands on staffing and care processes associated with COVID-19. Pressure ulcers and fall-related injuries were the most common incidents documented. Reports from previous years are available.

Incident investigations are important tools for uncovering latent factors that facilitate patient harm. This conference drew from experience in the United Kingdom and Norway to discuss how adverse event examinations can improve care provision and highlighted efforts in the United Kingdom to focus on maternity care safety.

Diagnostic improvement continues to gain focus as a goal in health care. The Measure Dx tool provides teams with guidance and strategies to detect and learn from diagnostic errors in their organizations. It includes a checklist to gauge readiness for implementation, measurement strategies, and recommendations for analyzing data and translating findings into front line care.