Risk Identification Flashcards

Which tool is MOST effective for identifying risks associated with a specific clinical procedure?

Answer: Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA)

FMEA proactively identifies potential failure points in a clinical procedure before harm occurs.

A risk manager notices a pattern of patient falls in a specific unit during night shifts. This analysis technique is called:

Answer: Trend analysis

Trend analysis identifies patterns in data over time to detect emerging risks before they escalate.

Which of the following represents a LATENT risk in a healthcare organization?

Answer: Understaffing due to poor scheduling policies

Latent risks are systemic or organizational factors (like poor policies) that predispose the system to active errors.

Environmental rounds conducted by risk management primarily help to identify which type of risk?

Answer: Physical hazard risks

Environmental rounds involve walking through facilities to identify physical hazards such as slip/trip hazards, unsafe equipment, or fire risks.

A hospital uses ICD-10 coding data to identify high-risk diagnoses with elevated complication rates. This is an example of:

Answer: Administrative data mining

Administrative data mining uses coded billing and clinical records to retrospectively identify patterns suggesting risk.

Which source is MOST useful for identifying risks that staff are aware of but have not formally reported?

Answer: Focus groups with frontline staff

Focus groups with frontline staff surface informal knowledge and near-miss experiences that may not appear in formal reporting systems.

A healthcare risk manager reviewing surgical complications notices a surgeon's outlier complication rate. The FIRST step should be to:

Answer: Conduct a focused professional practice evaluation (FPPE)

FPPE is the appropriate initial structured review process to evaluate a practitioner's competency when a concern is identified.