Patient Safety: Serious Reportable Events:
Product or Device Events
The Partners hospitals report cases of death or serious disability associated with:
- Contaminated drugs, devices or biologics provided by the hospital
- The use or function of a device in patient care in which the device functions other than it is intended
- An intravascular air embolism that occurs while being cared for in a hospital.
This category of events is aimed at identifying serious harm that results from drugs or devices that are contaminated, malfunctioning, or misused in the course of a patient’s treatment. They are important because the occurrence of these events can sometimes indicate a problem with a piece of equipment or with the training of an individual using the equipment.
All Partners hospitals have systems for inspecting equipment regularly. These systems are intended to identify and prevent problems before they reach the patient. In addition, all hospital staff are trained in the use of new equipment and technology as they are introduced for use on patient care units. While rare, when a Product or Device Event occurs, all the Partners hospitals conduct an analysis to identify what went wrong and what can be done to prevent a similar event from happening again.
Click on the numbers to see more information and event descriptions.
| PRODUCT OR DEVICE EVENTS | BWH | MGH | FH | NWH | NSMC | Total Partners |
| Use of Contaminated Drugs, Biologics or Device | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Misuse/Malfunction of a Device | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Air Embolism | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total Product or Device Events: | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
BWH = Brigham and Women's Hospital; MGH = Massachusetts General Hospital;
FH = Faulkner Hospital; NWH = Newton-Wellesley Hospital; NSMC = North Shore Medical Center
Partners HealthCare Source: Partners Serious Reportable Events Taskforce
Data Period: January 1, 2008 - December 31, 2008