title: The role of failure modes and effects analysis in showing the benefits of automation in the blood bank.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) is a risk management tool used by the manufacturing industry but now being applied in laboratories.
  
  
  METHODS
  Teams from six South Korean blood banks used this tool to map their manual and automated blood grouping processes and determine the risk priority numbers (RPNs) as a total measure of error risk.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The RPNs determined by each of the teams consistently showed that the use of automation dramatically reduced the RPN compared to manual processes. In addition, FMEA showed where the major risks occur in each of the manual processes and where attention should be prioritized to improve the process. Despite no previous experience with FMEA, the teams found the technique relatively easy to use and the subjectivity associated with assigning risk numbers did not affect the validity of the data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  FMEA should become a routine technique for improving processes in laboratories.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Sanggye Paik Hospital, Inje University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Tae Hee
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Moon Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Shinyoung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyun Ok
authors.initials: HO
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Mi Ae
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Ji Seon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Mina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hur
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: St John
mesh_terms: D057205:Automation, Laboratory; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D001788:Blood Grouping and Crossmatching / Q000379:methods*; D058731:Blood Safety / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D056910:Republic of Korea; D012306:Risk; D012308:Risk Management / Q000379:methods*