By By Dan Hounsell

Where do safety and security concerns lie in healthcare facilities? Potentially, everywhere, a situation only made more complex by the widespread upheavals arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

ECRI, a non-profit, independent organization, lists the top 10 patient safety concerns for 2021, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. ECRI compiled the list based on an analysis of more than 4 million patient safety events collected in the ECRI Institute Patient Safety Organization database since 2009, along with expert opinions from a panel of internal and external patient safety leaders.

Eight of the 10 patient safety concerns relate to or have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization said. Among the safety concerns the group identified:

• emergency preparedness and response in aging services

• pandemic preparedness 

• supply chain interruptions.