Health IT

How organizations should fuse health IT safety and patient safety

The Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety has unveiled a report that highlights a three-pronged approach for how organizations can make health IT safety a part of their overall safety initiatives.

doctor is sending result of medical test to patient on tablet computer

The Partnership for Health IT Patient Safety, a collaborative operated by ECRI Institute, has unveiled a report that highlights why both providers and vendors should make health IT safety a part of their overall patient safety program.

The paper compares health IT safety to an iceberg. “Only the tip is currently visible,” it reads. “Below the surface are the unseen and the unknown — the size and potential impact are yet unclear.”

Potential tech problems often lurk under the surface due to everything from coding changes to module updates to hidden bugs.

To mitigate the risk of dangerous events regarding IT, the report recommends a three-pronged approach:

  • Integrate. First, organizations need to pinpoint ways to tie health IT safety into existing patient safety initiatives. They can identify health IT hazards and provide training about the safe use of the technologies. Opportunities for learning exist whenever new tech is integrated, updated or replaced.
  • Collaborate. The next step is to gather feedback from a group of stakeholders (including patients, payers, cybersecurity experts, regulators, providers and others) and actively work with together on safety-related efforts.
  • Embed. Finally, organizations should make IT safety part of their culture and daily workflow. Initiatives should be supported by leadership, and staff members should know when to speak up about potential hazards.

As the report, which also includes a toolkit of additional resources, notes:

As the unknown aspects of the health IT iceberg come to the surface, those working with the technology can integrate, collaborate and embed new safety elements into their culture and daily workflow to achieve a unified vision of safe health IT and safe use and additional uses of technology for safety.

Indeed, as technology becomes more advanced, there are bound to be dangers to patients. Last fall, ECRI Institute revealed a list of the top healthcare technology hazards for 2018. Ransomware and other cybersecurity threats topped the report. Other issues included the poor use of digital imaging tools and flaws in medical device networking.

Leaving these technology-related threats unchecked puts patient lives at stake and ends up costing big bucks. An analysis from Frost & Sullivan found adverse patient safety events cost the U.S. and European healthcare systems $317.93 billion in 2016. By 2022, Frost & Sullivan estimates that amount will rise to $383.7 billion.

Photo: BernardaSv, Getty Images

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