In FMEA, which factor is used to rank which failure modes require attention?

• A. Severity, occurrence, and detectability scores.
• B. Patient satisfaction scores.
• C. Time of day.
• D. Severity, occurrence, and detectability scores.

Answer: (D)

In FMEA, prioritizing which failure modes need attention is done using a risk-prioritization metric that combines three dimensions: how severe the effect would be if the failure occurs (severity), how often the failure is likely to occur (occurrence), and how difficult it would be to detect the failure before it reaches the patient (detectability). Each dimension is scored, and those scores are multiplied to form the risk priority number. The larger this value, the higher the priority to address that failure mode. This is why combining severity, occurrence, and detectability scores is the essential method for ranking attention-worthy failure modes. Choices that rely on patient satisfaction or time of day don’t reflect the structured risk assessment used in FMEA.