ECRI releases health IT hazard reporting system

ECRI Institute’s Patient Safety Organization (PSO) announced the release of a health IT hazard reporting system that utilizes the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ’s) common formats and a tested standardized taxonomy for health IT hazard information.

Developed and piloted in a federally-funded project led by Abt Associates with ECRI Institute and Geisinger Health System's Patient Safety Institute, the reporting system collects IT hazards via the internet in a centralized and standardized way that allows for the identification of specific types of hazards and the ability to trend data, according to a release.

The PSO integrated the taxonomy into its event reporting platform and is collecting information so healthcare organizations can systematically track the source of health IT-related hazards and manage these risks. The goal is identifying fixing health IT-related hazards before they contribute to user errors, care-process compromise or patient harm.

"It is important to understand the nature of health IT hazards, defined as any characteristic of health IT or its interactions with other systems—including humans—that increases the likelihood of compromised care-process and patient harm. It is equally important to correct health IT systems to reduce or avoid such risks," said Karen P. Zimmer, MD, MPH, medical director of ECRI Institute PSO, in a statement.