Joint Commission Updates Sentinel Event Statistics, Reveals Most Challenging Requirements for First Half of 2015

The Joint Commission provides sentinel-event statistics in an August 26, 2015, update of its Sentinel Event Data Summary web page. Of the 474 events reported from January 1, 2015, to June 30, 2015, the most frequent were wrong-patient, wrong-site, or wrong-procedure surgery (58); unintended retention of a foreign body (50); patient suicide (48); fall (39); delay in treatment (37); and operative or postoperative complication (36). Of the 9,119 total events reported since the beginning of 2004, 57.4% have resulted in patient death. Additional sentinel-event statistics and trends are available on the agency's website. In other Joint Commission-related news, standard EC.02.06.01 (the hospital establishes and maintains a safe, functional environment) topped the list of most challenging requirements for hospitals surveyed by the Joint Commission in the first half of 2015, revealed the organization in the August 26, 2015, issue of Joint Commission Online.