"A majority of patient safety issues occur as a result of gaps in patient care delivery, especially with reference to the system or process supporting the care delivery task or function, communication, and the coordination of the patient’s care," Carol Clark, director of the ECRI Patient Safety Organization, told HCB News. "These gaps are a reflection of the complexity of healthcare today, in which there is a continuum of care that crosses acute and chronic care in many different types of settings including hospitals, outpatient care, home care and long term care, requiring collaboration, both physical and electronic, with an array of patients or residents, provider organizations and agencies."

ECRI also points out that the current Coronavirus outbreak is a concern that providers and patients should take seriously.


“While the rapidly evolving COVID-19 disease outbreak occurred after the items in this list were set, we acknowledge that it is clearly among the top patient safety concerns of the year — and ECRI is committed to helping organizations prepare and respond,” said Dr. Marcus Schabacker, president and CEO of ECRI, in the report.

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