ECRI Institute lists top 10 safety concerns for 2016

Editor's Note

The ECRI Institute (Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania) on April 13 released its “Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations” for 2016.

Topping the list was “Health IT configurations and organizational workflow that do not support each other,” followed by “Patient identification errors.”

“Inadequate cleaning and disinfection of flexible endoscopes” was fourth, and “Unintentionally retained objects despite correct count” was eighth.

​​Free download from ECRI Institute highlights root causes for serious patient safety events including health IT configurations and organizational workflow that do not support each other, patient identification errors, Inadequate management of behavioral health issues in non-behavioral-health settings, inadequate cleaning and disinfection of flexible endoscopes, inadequate test-result reporting and follow-up, inadequate monitoring for respiratory depression in patients prescribed opioids, medication errors related to pounds and kilograms, unintentionally retained objects despite correct count, inadequate antimicrobial stewardship, and failure to embrace a culture of safety