2. Instead of the ordinal ranking of frequency, 1 to 5, used in problem 10.1, the director of quality improvement has collected data on the number of cases for each type of surgery and the number of patients that contracted a postoperative infection. The director wants you to recalculate the RPN using the actual incidence rates of infection. Infection severity and detectability are ranked the same as in problem 10.1. Compare your new RPNs with those calculated in 10.1. How does the use of the incidence rate change the improvement work list? Which surgery should be examined last? What is the maximum possible risk score for this analysis?

Surgery Types Number of Cases Number of Infections Rate of Infection Severity of Infections Detectability Risk Priority Number Thoracic 200 5 3 3 Neuro 100 1 4 3 Orthopedic 2,000 50 2 2 Plastic 800 32 1 2 Oral 500 25 1 1 General 5,000 100 2 1