EHR-Related Issues Top Patient Safety Concern List

Each year the nonprofit ECRI Institute highlights its top 10 patient safety concerns for the year. For 2019, diagnostic errors and improper management of test results in electronic health records (EHRs) topped the list.

Released in conjunction with National Patient Safety Awareness week, ECRI’s Top 10 list noted that “when diagnoses and test results are not properly communicated or followed up, the potential exists to cause serious patient harm or death. Providers have begun relying on the electronic health record (EHR) to help with clinical decision support, to track test results, and to flag issues.”

“We have to recognize the limits of current technology and ensure that we have processes in place to close the loop on diagnostic tests,” said William Marella, executive director of operations and analytics for the ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization (PSO), in a prepared statement. “This safety issue cuts across acute and ambulatory settings, requiring teamwork across the health system.”

The Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based ECRI Institute is designated an Evidence-based Practice Center by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ECRI Institute PSO has received more than 2.7 million event reports and reviewed hundreds of root-cause analyses since 2009.