The ECRI Institute released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards 2021 report Jan. 28 for hospitals, medical practices and home care providers.
For the 14th annual report, ECRI Institute identified the top health technology concerns that healthcare leaders should address based on review of ECRI Institute's incident investigations, independent medical device testing, and reporting databases.
Here are the top 10 health technology hazards for this year, as ranked by ECRI Institute:
1. Emergency use authorization device management: Complexity of managing medical devices with COVID-19 EUAs.
2. Drug name auto-display: Drug entry fields that populate after only a few letters can cause fatal medication errors.
3. Telehealth adoption: Rapid roll-outs of virtual care technologies may leave patients' data at risk.
4. Imported N95-style masks: May fail to protect healthcare workers from infectious respiratory diseases.
5. Consumer-grade devices: Relying on these products can lead to inappropriate healthcare decisions.
6. UV disinfection: Quick deployments of UV disinfection devices can reduce effectiveness and increase exposure risks.
7. Software vulnerabilities: Weaknesses in third-party software components present cybersecurity challenges.
8. Artificial intelligence in diagnostic imaging: These technologies may misrepresent certain patient populations.
9. Remote operation risks: Remotely operating medical devices designed for bedside use introduces new risks.
10. 3D printing quality: Lack of quality assurance of 3D-printed patient medical devices may harm patients.
Click here to view the full report.