Abstract:

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is methodology for analyzing potential reliability problems early in the developmant cycle where it is easier to take actions to overcome these issues, thereby enhancing reliability trough design. FMEA’s provide with a tool that can assist in providing reliable, safe, and customer pleasing products and processes. FMEA, was developed outside of health care and is now being used in health care to assess risk of failure and harm in processes and to identify the most important areas for process improvements. FMEA, has been used by hundreds of hospitals in a variety of institute for healthcare improvement programs, including; Idealized Design of Medication Systems (IDMS), Patient Safety Collaboratives, and Patient Safety Summits. In this article we will discuss the types, the usage benefits and disadvantages of FMEA in health care.

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