Insights & News in Healthcare Safety

Understanding “Human Factors” is Not “Factors Associated with Being Human”

Modern healthcare relies on a variety of physical and digital assets and tools. Sophisticated medical devices help in diagnosing and treating disease. Advanced materials prevent the spread of bacte...

Advancing Safe and Equitable Healthcare: The New Patient Safety Structural Measure by CMS

On July 31, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a significant update to the hospital quality reporting program with the finalization of the Patient Safety Structu...

ECRI’s Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2024

ECRI recently published our Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2024 Special Report—the annual guide that calls attention to pressing patient safety concerns facing the healthcare industry. For thi...

IWD 2024: How to Continue Progress in Cervical Cancer Screening

International Women’s Day is an opportune time to celebrate improvements in women’s health outcomes—and reflect on steps we can take to achieve even more progress. For this blog, we’re focusing on ...

15 Years as a PSO. Decades Improving Safety.

This year, ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices PSO celebrates our 15th anniversary as an AHRQ-listed Patient Safety Organization. Over this decade and a half, we have worked tirele...

10 Steps to Preventing Patient Elopement

Patient elopement is when individuals leave an area they are expected to stay within, for their safety. Elopement from a healthcare facility can have devastating consequences for a patient, includi...

Video Recordings of Surgical Procedures: How to Ensure Consent, Privacy, and Confidentiality

Many organizations record surgical procedures performed at their facilities with the intention of using the footage for educational or quality assurance purposes, among other reasons. However, it i...

Medical Errors and Health IT: What Does the Data Say?

Health information technology (IT) is a powerful tool for documenting and sharing information about patients’ health and helping providers to make well-informed decisions about patient care. Howeve...

Non-medical Discharge: Navigating Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Considerations

Hospitals may wish to discharge patients for a variety of non-medical reasons (e.g., if the patient is being violent towards staff, patients, or visitors; if the patient is exhibiting racist behavi...