cover story
Healthcare Hazards From Devices and Systems Drive New Patient-Safety Concerns
ECRI ’ s Robert Schluth points out that even in a systems-driven environment , the individual – whether it ’ s a clinician or biomedical engineer – has a critical role in monitoring for healthcare hazards that can jeopardize patient safety .
By Kelly M . Pyrek
COVID-19 supply chain shortages and other PPEand device-related risks are part of independent non-profit organization ECRI ’ s annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2022 .
ECRI ’ s report , now in its 15th year , identifies health technology concerns that warrant attention by healthcare leaders . ECRI ’ s team of biomedical engineers , clinicians , and healthcare management experts follows a rigorous review process to select topics for the annual list , drawing insight from incident investigations , reporting databases , and independent medical device testing .
Robert Schluth , project officer , device evaluation team at ECRI , acknowledges that technology is helping drive the increasing complexity of the healthcare sector . “ Information technology ( IT ), particularly , is playing a significant role , but it ’ s also the way that healthcare technology has evolved , because more systems are interconnected and relying on IT-based systems can complicate processes . A problem that originates in one system may pop up downstream somewhere through a connected system , so it gets trickier to tease out those obstacles . In general , medical devices are better than they were 30 years ago in terms of the quality of the manufacturing and functionality , but on the other hand , some of the complexities create new challenges for healthcare technology managers .”
Schluth points out that even in a systems-driven environment , the individual – whether it ’ s a clinician or biomedical engineer – has a critical role in monitoring for healthcare hazards that can jeopardize patient safety .
“ One point that we highlight with some of the ancillary materials that we distributed with the Top 10 Health Technology Hazards report this year is the importance of reporting problems ,” he says . “ Frontline healthcare personnel , anyone in the healthcare environment , or even patients could be key to identifying that something could be wrong and following up on the issue . Sometimes it might seem like an innocuous thing , but when you track down what was really going on , it could be a sign of a larger problem . The reason we must be alert to hazards is to try to prevent any harm in the first place . So , effective and timely problem-reporting is a great way to do that . Healthcare professionals must know what ’ s going on , investigate problems and fix things before they affect patients and other personnel .”
ECRI ’ s Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2022 are as follows :
1
Cybersecurity Attacks Can Disrupt Healthcare Delivery , Impacting Patient Safety
2
Supply Chain Shortfalls Pose Risks to Patient Care
3
Damaged Infusion Pumps Can Cause Medication Errors
4
Inadequate Emergency Stockpiles Could Disrupt Patient Care During a Public Health Emergency
5
Telehealth Workflow and Human Factors Shortcomings Can Cause Poor Outcomes
6
Failure to Adhere to Syringe Pump Best Practices Can Lead to Dangerous Medication Delivery Errors AI-Based Reconstruction Can Distort Images ,
7 Threatening Diagnostic Outcomes
8
Poor Duodenoscope Reprocessing Ergonom ics and Workflows Put Healthcare Workers and Patients at Risk
9
Disposable Gowns with Insufficient Barrier Protection Put Wearers at Risk Wi-Fi Dropouts and Dead Zones Can Lead to Patient Care Delays , Injuries , and Deaths
10
An executive brief version Top 10 Health Technology Hazards report is available for complimentary download at www . ecri . org / 2022hazards .