Factors that influence the recognition, reporting and resolution of incidents related to medical devices and other healthcare technologies: a systematic review.
As the use of medical devices and health care technologies expands, adverse events linked to their use have become a significant concern. This systematic review focused on incident reporting for adverse events related to devices and technologies. Most studies of incident reporting identified were not specific to technology. Investigators found that fear of blame, time constraints, and uncertainty about what to report all led to under-reporting, as prior studies across settings have suggested. The authors conclude that further study is needed to understand clinicians' reporting practices specific to devices in order to move toward effective surveillance for adverse events associated with devices and technologies. A previous AHRQ WebM&M commentary describes an adverse event related to medical device use.