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Reactive versus proactive analysis
RCA and HFMEA
RCA
FMEA
Timeframe
retrospective
prospective
Focus
Individual case
Process
JCAHO requirements
All incidents/accidents Annually on a high risk
process
Advantages
Asks what has
happened and why
Broad impact on the
entire process. Does
not need an event prior
to study. Prevents
incidents before they
happen
Limitations
Hindhight bias, findings
may apply only to one
event and may or may
not have implications
for the entire
system.Labour
intensive.
Labour intensive