Racial and ethnic health disparities top list of ECRI safety concerns

The Emergency Care Research Institute (ECRI) released its Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2021, naming racial and ethnic disparities in health care as the top concern for the year. ECRI’s patient safety and medication safety experts compiled the list through analysis of more than 4 million patient safety events. The coronavirus pandemic dominated this year’s report. Of the top 10 concerns, eight related to COVID-19. The pandemic not only revealed gaping disparities in health care and outcomes for people of color but also exposed concerns about emergency preparedness in aging care facilities, disease outbreak preparedness and supply chain shortages. (ECRI news release, 3/15/21)