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What factors are included in a calculation of Risk Priority Number (RPN) in FMEA?
In Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), the Risk Priority Number (RPN) is commonly calculated as the product of three ratings: Severity (S) of impact, Occurrence (O) likelihood/probability, and Detection (D) ability to detect the failure before it causes harm (lower detectability increases risk). This structured scoring helps teams prioritize which failure modes deserve immediate mitigation. Risk management objectives include proactively identifying high-risk process steps (medication administration, specimen labeling, surgery scheduling), designing controls (standard work, forcing functions, redundancy), and tracking residual risk after changes. While cost and feasibility may influence selection of mitigations, they are not the core RPN elements. Using S--O--D improves transparency in prioritization, supports interdisciplinary alignment, and provides a defensible rationale for resource allocation toward patient safety improvements.