The Joint Commission recently released sentinel event data for the first six months of 2021.
“The Joint Commission has reviewed 569 sentinel events from Jan. 1 through June 30, 2021 with the majority of these — 91% (516) — being voluntarily self-reported by an accredited or certified entity. The remaining 53 sentinel events were reported either by patients (or their families) or employees (current or former) of the organization,” according to The Joint Commission newsletter. “Despite the continued challenges presented by COVID-19, the number of sentinel events remained comparable to previous years.”
The summary data of sentinel event statistics for the first half of 2021 covers 16,695 incidents reported from 1995 through June 30, 2021. These events affected a total of 14,105 patients (as multiple patients may be affected by a single event):
- 47% of sentinel events led to a patient’s death.
- 24% led to unexpected additional care.
- 11% led to severe temporary harm.
- 6% led to permanent loss of function.
- 2% led to permanent harm.
- 2% led to a psychological impact.
An estimated fewer than 2% of all sentinel events are reported to The Joint Commission. Therefore, these data are not an epidemiologic data set, and no conclusions should be drawn about the actual relative frequency of events or trends in events over time.
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