5. Managing medical device and IT updates

Updating software on medical devices is important to keep them in good working order, but it also presents some dangers. ECRI said, in one case that it heard about, a hospital had a patient monitoring system that was linked with electronic medical record information and also allowed doctors to view PACS images on the monitor's display. However, when they upgraded the monitor's software, it caused a medication administration system associated with the device to shut down. "ECRI Institute is aware of an increasing number of problems related to change in management, including issues involving wireless networks, cybersecurity, planned maintenance or software upgrades," the group said.

4. Endoscope cross-contamination

Endoscope cross-contamination can lead to some headline-grabbing horror stories. Almost three years ago, the Veteran Affairs department discovered that more than 10,000 patients might have been exposed to blood-borne germs at three VA hospitals between 2003 and 2009 because of improperly processed devices. "Flexible endoscope reprocessing requires consistent adherence to a multistep procedure," ECRI said. "Failure to properly perform any step, including some necessary manual tasks, could compromise the integrity of the process." The institute said at an October 2011 summit held between FDA and the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, experts discussed one significant problem: health care workers often don't appreciate an instrument's reprocessing needs. "[C]linicians may prefer a given model of device but not appreciate that reprocessing that model could take more than the 15 or 30 minutes available between cases, meaning that reprocessing could be rushed and ineffective," ECRI said.

3. Infusion pump drug delivery errors

Infusion pumps deliver life-saving drugs and nutrients to patients - but they also are error-prone. According to the FDA, there have been almost 56,000 infusion pump problems, linked to more than 700 patient deaths. Numerous devices have been pulled from the market, and a recent recall is believed to affect more than 200,000 units. "Infusion pump technology has evolved over the years to address many safety issues, the most notable improvement being the introduction of 'smart' pumps," ECRI said. "But preventable errors, including misprogramming, do still occur."

2. CT, radiation therapy hazards

Last year, radiation therapy took the top spot on ECRI's technology hazards list, but this year it's combined with the dangers of CT scan radiation (#4 on the 2011 list), making patient exposure to unnecessary doses of ionizing radiation the second-most pressing health care tech problem. ECRI said the true rate of radiation therapy errors is unknown because of ambiguity surrounding what counts as a "reportable event." However, a 2008 World Health Organization literature review estimated that more than 3,000 patients have been affected by radiotherapy adverse events over the past three decades. As for CT scans, the technology is thought to account for nearly half the radiation dose from artificial sources, ECRI said, citing a 2009 study. While it has a number of life-saving roles -- in stroke, cancer and trauma diagnoses -- CT doses are rarely audited, ECRI said, so different institutions can use widely different doses for the same type of scan. Worries over medical radiation, often highlighted in the popular press, even warranted a sentinel event alert from the Joint Commission this summer.

More Industry Headlines