ABSTRACT
Root Cause Analysis A root cause analysis, or RCA, is an investigation of an accident or near-miss accident to learn what factors contributed to the event. A typical root cause analysis in healthcare is a methodology or process used to find out what went wrong, and more importantly, what contributed or caused a medical error or near miss that produced harm or could have caused harm to a patient. In addition to the discovery of the root cause(s), a plan of action is developed to mitigate the risk of the event happening again. A successful plan of action to prevent the reoccurrence of the medical error or opportunity for error will include human factors engineering principles and practices.
