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Truths and Misconceptions in Root Cause Analysis

근본원인분석의 진실과 오해

  • Eun-Young Choi (Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Mi-Jeong Kwak (Quality Improvement Team, Korea University Anam Hospital) ;
  • Jeong-Hae Hwang (Department of Health Administration, Hanyang Cyber University) ;
  • Seung-Eun Lee (College of Nursing, Mo-Im Kim Nursing Research Institute, Yonsei University) ;
  • Won Lee (Department of Nursing, Chung-Ang University) ;
  • Minsu Ock (Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Ulsan College of Medicine)
  • 최은영 (중앙대학교 간호학과) ;
  • 곽미정 (고려대학교 안암병원 적정진료관리팀) ;
  • 황정해 (한양사이버대학교 보건행정학과) ;
  • 이승은 (연세대학교 간호대학) ;
  • 이원 (중앙대학교 간호학과) ;
  • 옥민수 (울산대학교 의과대학 예방의학교실)
  • Received : 2023.03.31
  • Accepted : 2023.05.24
  • Published : 2023.06.30

Abstract

We introduced guidelines, cases, and educational materials that helped perform Root Cause Analysis (RCA), while suggesting the limitations of RCA and ways to overcome them to make it more active in the Republic of Korea. By arranging the existing major domestic and foreign literature on RCA, helpful information on RCA is provided to practitioners. RCA utilizes several tools to find an incident's systematic cause rather than a single methodology. Depending on the institution, various guidelines for RCA are presented, and the RCA step suggested by The Joint Commission is often used. Moreover, various software that help perform RCA, and the Korean RCA software provided by the Korea Institute for Healthcare Accreditation can be used. Although many medical institutions perform RCA, dedicated patient safety personnel have experienced difficulties in almost all stages of RCA. Therefore, efforts to clarify problems with RCA by analyzing various cases are important. To successfully perform RCA, it is necessary to support the capacity building of dedicated patient safety personnel and RCA teams, share RCA cases, utilize RCA software, and establish a patient safety culture in medical institutions. For the potential effects of RCA to be properly demonstrated, its correct understanding is imperative.

Keywords

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