Ideas That Work
IW
1 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9
B
efore critical procedures like our high-volume thyroidec-
tomies, we gather a multidisciplinary team to play a game of
"What Could Go Wrong?" in which we discuss what we'd do
if worst case scenarios ever came to pass. We set a time limit of 20
minutes for generating potential "failure modes" — what we call any-
thing and everything that could go wrong, from receiving an incom-
plete patient history to unexpected complications with the surgery —
from each staff member. We rate these scenarios a on a scale of 1 to
10, with 1 being something that's "very unlikely to occur" and 10 being
something that's "very likely to occur."
NIGHTMARE SCENARIOS
What's the Worst That Could Happen?
• WORST-CASE MINDSET Ohio Surgery Center invites a multidisciplinary team, pictured here in the PACU, to brainstorm every-
thing that could go wrong with patient processes to uncover potential issues before they become full-blown problems.
Ohio
Surgery
Center
