Teaching root cause analysis in healthcare management with Grey's Anatomy

Over the past 20 years, root cause analysis (RCA) has become one of the most widely used retrospective methods for detecting safety hazards in medicine and healthcare. Despite its wide use in management practice and growing popularity in academic research, there is currently a dearth of coverage of RCA in popular healthcare management textbooks and pedagogical publications. This paper addresses this gap by presenting innovative instructional materials and recommendations for teaching RCA in healthcare management. Using an episode of Grey's Anatomy TV show, this experiential learning exercise takes students through the steps of RCA and makes use of a range of RCA tools, including high-level flowchart, fishbone diagram, “five whys”, corrective action plan, and others. The exercise, which was classroom tested and received positive student feedback, can be adapted to a range of healthcare management classes. Because RCA can have widespread, lifesaving consequences, healthcare management courses can significantly benefit from integrating this exercise into classroom pedagogies.