# Investigations that actually finish.

> Investigations run on the incident record. Lauren drafts contributing factors and a five-whys chain. The investigator edits them, attaches evidence, picks a disposition and signs. Findings flow into corrective actions, so each root cause gets an owned fix.

Source: https://incidentkit.ai/product/investigations · Updated Oct 5, 2026

**Investigations and RCA** (investigate): A guided investigation: find causes, pick a disposition, and a person signs.

## What it does

- **Contributing factors** Pick a category for each factor: environment, equipment, procedure, people or communication. Later you can count patterns.
- **Five whys, drafted and editable** Asking why again and again gets to the cause. Lauren drafts the chain. A person edits and signs it.
- **A disposition for every case** The disposition is the decision. Change a process, repair equipment, train staff, refer to a committee or medical director, or open a quality study.
- **Evidence on the record** Photos, work orders and documents stay attached to the investigation.
- **Human-authored templates** (rolling out) Fishbone and fault-tree worksheets, and templates a facilitator leads, are rolling out.

## How it works

1. **Assign the investigator** Routing picks the owner by severity and type.
2. **Draft the analysis** Lauren proposes factors and a chain.
3. **Decide the disposition** What changes, and who owns it.
4. **Convert to actions** Findings become corrective actions with owners and dates.

## Frequently asked questions

### Does Lauren decide the root cause?

No. Lauren drafts a possible chain from the record. A person decides what is true, edits it and signs. The draft marker stays until then.

### Which root cause methods are supported?

Five whys and contributing-factor analysis today. Fishbone and fault-tree worksheets are rolling out. See [five whys vs fishbone vs fault tree](https://incidentkit.ai/blog/five-whys-vs-fishbone-vs-fault-tree) to choose.

### Can a committee review an investigation?

Yes. The disposition can send the case to a committee or the medical director. The review is recorded on the same record.

## Related

- [Corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) tracking](https://incidentkit.ai/product/corrective-actions)
- [Lauren: AI incident intake that a person signs](https://incidentkit.ai/product/lauren)
- [Root Cause Analysis: How to Run One That Leads to Action](https://incidentkit.ai/use-cases/root-cause-analysis)
- [Root cause analysis and CAPA: methods and strong actions](https://incidentkit.ai/guides/root-cause-analysis-and-capa-guide)
- [Root cause analysis: definition and meaning](https://incidentkit.ai/glossary/root-cause-analysis)
- [Root Cause Analysis Worksheet (5 Whys Template)](https://incidentkit.ai/templates/root-cause-analysis-worksheet)
- [F610 investigate, prevent and correct alleged violations](https://incidentkit.ai/compliance/f-tags/f610)
- [Joint Commission sentinel event policy: definition and RCA](https://incidentkit.ai/compliance/reporting-deadlines/sentinel-events)