Weeklong course borrows techniques and disciplines from the aviation industry

Abu Dhabi, UAE, January 18, 2010- A number of Healthcare Quality and Risk Management professionals with Abu Dhabi Health Service Company (SEHA) recently attended a weeklong "Root Cause Analysis" training workshop held at the Millennium Hotel, Abu Dhabi.  The workshop, which was hosted by SEHA, was attended by Senior Corporate staff as well as the Directors and Managers of Quality and Clinical Risk from SEHA healthcare facilities. 

The five-day workshop was structured using a "Train-the-Trainer" program and focused specifically on understanding Root Cause Analysis through a Human Factors Approach.  The focus of the course involved identifying and understanding the underlying causes of patient safety incidents and determining the necessary corrective actions to minimize the likelihood of re-occurrence in the future.  The course provides training based upon teamwork concepts developed and proven in the industry, including incident reports, case studies, simulation exercises and group discussions.

Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is a class of problem solving methods used to identify the root causes of problems or events.  It is a discipline widely used in production-based failure analysis and safety programs, numerous engineering disciplines, and is widely credited with helping make airline travel one of the safest modes of transportation available.   The program, as presented to the attendees from SEHA, is known as System Based RCA and has been highly successful in Continuous Quality Improvement Programs to reduce errors and enhance organizational effectiveness. 

By electing for the weeklong structure, attendees not only developed their own expertise, but learned how to teach the course materials to a wide range of multidisciplinary healthcare staff through an ongoing training program across all SEHA healthcare facilities.  

According to SEHA, root cause analysis training is incredibly important in making sure that immediate risks are removed and that incidents do not escalate to a more severe level. Dr. Mariam Al Mazrouei, Manager of Clinical Affairs for SEHA, says that one of SEHA's core strategic objectives is to continually improve patient safety and build patient trust in the healthcare system.  "We have long since realized that it is not enough to simply react to patient safety incidents," comments Dr. Mazrouei.  "We must be proactive, ensuring that lessons are learned and that incidents that put patients at risk are not repeated."

Ms. Bernadette Kelly, Senior Clinical Affairs Specialist at SEHA, reiterated that one of the most important issues in healthcare today is ensuring the safety of patients. "We aim to adopt innovative approaches to patient safety and believe that learning from other industries--such as the aviation industry--can assist us in achieving our goal." 

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About Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA)
SEHA is health in Arabic.  The Abu Dhabi Health Services Company - whose corporate identity is SEHA - is an independent, public joint stock company created to manage and develop the curative activities of the public hospitals and clinics of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.  SEHA is committed to maintaining a leadership role in consistently providing superior, accessible, affordable and comprehensive healthcare services for our community and region in a socially responsible and cost effective manner that is on par with world-class standards.  SEHA owns and operates 12 hospitals with 2,644 beds, 62 ambulatory care, family care and urgent care centers, and 2 blood banks. SEHA is one of the largest integrated healthcare providers in the Middle East with more than 16,000 doctors, nurses, ancillary care and administrative personnel in its employ.  SEHA is in partnerships with a number of internationally recognized healthcare managers, all of which are capable of providing world class health care choices to residents in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Among these international institutions are Johns Hopkins Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Bumrungrad International, VAMED and Vienna Medical University.

For further information, please visit us on the web at www.seha.ae.

For more information, please contact:
James S. Ferrier
Corporate Marketing Manager
Jferrier@seha.ae 

Salama Al Mazrouei
Sr. Corporate Marketing Specialist
smazrouei@seha.ae 

© Press Release 2010