10 Medtech Hazards You Need to Avoid

The ECRI Institute has released its list of the top 10 health technology hazards for 2017.

Here's one ranking of medical technologies won't want to make.

The ECRI Institute has published its annual list of the Top 10 Health Technology Hazards, and infusion errors are the number one concern for 2017. According to the group's report, the potential for errors and safety mechanism failures with infusion pumps is a major cause for concern, given the potential for serious harm or fatalities.

Staff can avoid errors by looking for signs of damage to the infusion pumps, using the roller clamp, and checking for unexpected medication flow, the report authors wrote.

"As an independent medical device testing laboratory and investigator of technology-related incidents, we know what can go wrong and what steps hospitals can take to reduce patient harm related to specific technologies and processes," David T. Jamison, executive director of ECRI Institute's Health Device Group, said in a release.

ECRI Institute has published a number of alerts on infusion pump over the past few years, including notices on Baxter, CareFusion, Hospira, and B.Braun devices.

The nine other health technology hazards for 2017 chosen by ECRI Institute's Health Device Group are:

The hazards are chosen based on factors that include frequency, preventability, publicity, identifiability, breadth, and severity, according to the report.

Last year's list named inadequately cleaned flexible endoscopes as the top hazard--not surprising given the rash of headlines on infectious outbreaks at hospitals traced back to contaminated duodenoscopes. Improperly cleaned instruments were included on this year's list too, but the ECRI Institute report pointed out that "duodenoscopes are not the only devices that warrant attention" and that "complex, reusable instruments--such as endoscopes, cannulated drills, and arthroscopic shavers--are of particular concern."

Many of the 2017 hazards will be well-known to industry professionals through news headlines and product alerts. For instance, outdated software has been identified as a reason for device cybersecurity vulnerabilities and FDA has issued safety communications about Mycobacterium chimaera infections associated with a heater-cooler system.

[Image courtesy of Stuart Miles on Freedigitalphotos.net]