Effectiveness of Root Cause Analysis Training Combined with Structured Feedback on Reducing Medical Errors and Improving Patient Outcomes: A Double-Blinded Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Medical errors still cause a major portion of hospital morbidity and mortality (M&M), which emphasises the need for efficient preventive plans. A vital instrument for spotting structural problems in healthcare, Root Cause Analysis (RCA) is sometimes hampered by uneven use and feedback systems. Combining structured RCA training with practical feedback during Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) reviews might provide a fresh strategy to improve RCA process efficacy and lower negative consequences. Objectives: This study sought to assess, in comparison to conventional RCA procedures, the efficacy of structured RCA training and feedback systems on lowering sentinel event recurrence, increasing compliance with RCA recommendations, and thus improving patient safety outcomes. Methods: 400 medical professionals participated in a multi-center, double-blind, randomised controlled study spread among many hospitals. Complementing structured feedback during M&M reviews, participants in the intervention group underwent comprehensive RCA training with an eye on system-level mistakes and remedial action implementation. The control group carried on normal RCA procedures. While secondary objectives included hospital-acquired morbidity and death rates, and duration of hospital stays, primary outcomes included sentinel event recurrence and compliance with RCA recommendations. Mixed-effects logistic regression was used in statistical tests for outcome evaluation. Results: With a p = 0.001 the intervention group showed a 35% decrease in sentinel event recurrence compared to 15% in the control group. Following RCA guidelines increased dramatically, with rates of 92% in the intervention group against 75% in the control group (p = 0.002). Secondary results showed a lower hospital-acquired morbidity rate (10% vs. 18%; p = 0.004), a lower hospital-acquired mortality rate (2% vs. 5%; p = 0.001), and a longer duration of stay (3.5 days vs. 1.2 days; p = 0.001). Reflecting enhanced issue identification, root cause analysis, and action plan quality (p ＜ 0.002 across components), quality ratings for RCA documentation were significantly higher in the intervention group. Conclusion: Structured RCA training together with feedback systems greatly increased RCA quality, lowered medical mistakes, and increased patient outcomes. These results support including structured training and feedback into RCA procedures as a consistent method to raise the efficiency and safety of healthcare. Future research should investigate the scalability and economical nature of this intervention in several contexts.