Report highlights the top patient safety concerns

The pediatric mental health crisis is the top pressing patient safety concern, according to ECRI. The nonprofit patient safety organization recently released a special report spotlighting the top concerns along with recommended actions to mitigate them to coincide with Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 12-18).

ECRI and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) compiled the list of the most pressing threats to patient safety by analyzing data from various sources, including scientific literature, patient safety events, client research requests and queries, and concerns reported to or investigated by ECRI and ISMP.

The pediatric mental health crisis topped the list due to the fact that rates of depression and anxiety in children have been on the rise since 2017 and then hit crisis levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on expert recommendations, ECRI suggests addressing the crisis with universal mental health screenings during office and hospital visits, personal connections between pediatric mental health providers and patients/families, and additional support for addressing social determinants of health.

Other top patient safety concerns include:

• Physical and verbal violence against healthcare staff
• Impact on clinicians expected to work outside their scope of practice and competencies
• Consequences of poor care coordination for patients with complex medical conditions
• Medication errors resulting from inaccurate patient medication lists
• Preventable harm due to omitted care or treatment

Source: ECRI