Data integrity failures associated with health IT systems and poor care coordination leads ECRI Institute’s 2014 list of top 10 patient safety concerns. The ECRI Institute first annual list of Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations is intended to help healthcare organizations identify priorities and aid them in creating corrective action plans.
With the federal government offering financial incentives for hospitals and physician practices to adopt electronic health records (EHRs), it is no surprise that health IT is the #1 item on this year’s list. What is surprising, says ECRI Institute, is the specific risk from the integrity of data in health IT systems. While appropriately designed and implemented systems can support patient safety and quality of care, incorrect data can lead to patient harm.
- Test results reporting errors
- Drug shortages
- Failure to adequately manage behavioral health patients in acute care settings
- Mislabeled specimens
- Retained devices and unretrieved fragments
- Patients falls while toileting
- Inadequate monitoring for respiratory depression in patients taking opiods
- Inadequate reprocessing of endoscopes and surgical instruments
The top 10 report is available for free download with registration athttps://www.ecri.org/PatientSafetyTop10.
