ECRI: Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns 2022

Summary

ECRI's annual Top 10 list helps organisations identify imminent patient safety challenges.

The 2022 edition features many first-time topics, and emphasis is on potential risks that could have the biggest impact on patient health across all care settings. The number one topic on this year’s list has been steadily growing throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and impacts patients and staff on all levels: staffing shortages.

Prior to 2021, there was a growing shortage of both clinical and non-clinical staff, but the problem has grown exponentially. In early January 2022, it was estimated that 24% of US hospitals were critically understaffed, while 100 more facilitates anticipated facing critical staff shortages within the following week.

The list includes diagnostic and vaccine-related errors that can impact patient outcomes. In addition, several topics on this year's list reflect challenges that have arisen as a result of the stresses associated with delivering care during a global pandemic.

Content

ECRI's top 10 list of patient safety concerns:

1. Staffing shortages.
2. COVID-19 effects on healthcare workers’ mental health.
3. Bias and racism in addressing patient safety.
4. Vaccine coverage gaps and errors.
5. Cognitive biases and diagnostic error.
6. Nonventilator healthcare-associated pneumonia.
7. Human factors in operationalizing telehealth.
8. International supply chain disruptions.
9. Products subject to emergency use authorisation.
10. Telemetry monitoring.