Joint Commission Updates Sentinel Event Statistics through March 2012

The Joint Commission provides sentinel event statistics in a July 20, 2012, update of its Sentinel Event Data Summary web page. Of the 225 events reported as of March 31, 2012, unintended retention of a foreign body (42); delay in treatment (33); wrong-patient, wrong-site, wrong-procedure surgery (27); patient suicide (20); and operative and postoperative complications (19) were among the most frequently reported.