The top four event types for hospitals last year were: Medication or other substance (16 percent), falls (16 percent), care delay (15 percent), and surgical or other invasive procedure (8 percent). A range of event types within each subset were reported by hospitals last year.
The following is a breakdown of each type of event, excluding care delay because no information was available.
Falls: Top three pre-fall activities
- Transferring to or from bed, chair, wheelchair, etc., without assistance — 21 percent
- Toileting-related activities — 28 percent
- Walking without assistance and without an assistive device or medical equipment — 9 percent
Medication events: Top three medication event types
- Incorrect medication or substance — 23 percent
- Incorrect dose — 23 percent
- Incorrect strength — 5 percent
Surgical events: Top three surgical event types
- Incorrect site or side — 45 percent
- Other surgical or invasive procedure event — 23 percent
- Incorrect procedure — 14 percent
More articles on patient safety:
12 California hospitals penalized for patient safety issues
Falls prevention: 4 new priorities
SSI risk factors: 3 main categories
