Joint Commission Updates Sentinel Event Statistics through 2011

The Joint Commission provides sentinel event statistics for 2011 in a March 12, 2012, update of its sentinel event data summary web page. Of the 1,243 total events reported in 2011, unintended retention of a foreign body (188); wrong-patient, wrong-site, or wrong-procedure surgery (152); delay in treatment (138); operative and postoperative complications (133); and patient suicide (131) were among the most frequently reported.