The Joint Commission has updated its Sentinel Event statistics through Q3 2015, and published four related presentations.
Since The Joint Commission implemented the Sentinel Event database in January 1995 the organization has reviewed a total of 11,917 Sentinel Events and issued 55 Sentinel Event Alerts, the most recent being Sentinel Event Alert #55: Preventing Falls and Fall-Related Injuries in Health Care Facilities on September 28, 2015.
In 2011, The Joint Commission began presenting data for specific analytics dating back to 2004 only, including reporting source, Sentinel Event setting, and Sentinel Event outcome. Data for these analytics from 1995 to 2003 is not provided.
According to the latest statistics, since 2004 The Joint Commission has reviewed 9,376 Sentinel Events, determined 9,594 patients were impacted by these events, and identified 5,469 (57%) of the events resulted in patient death and 857 (8.9%) resulted in permanent loss of function. Since 2004, the majority of reviewed Sentinel Events (6,248, 66.7%) occurred in the hospital setting.
Links to the individual Sentinel Event presentations are included below.
- Sentinel Event Statistics Data – Root Causes by Event Type (2004 – Q3 2015)
- Sentinel Event Statistics Data – Event Type by Year (1995 – Q3 2015)
- Sentinel Event Statistics Data – General Information (1995 – Q3 2015)
- Sentinel Event Data Summary (2004 – Q3 2015)
Sentinel Event-related data demonstrates the need of the Joint Commission and accredited health care organizations to continue to address serious adverse events. The data also supports the importance of establishing National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) and focusing energies on addressing serious errors within health care organizations. By identifying causes, trends, settings and outcomes of Sentinel Events, The Joint Commission can provide critical information in the prevention of Sentinel Events to accredited health care organizations and to the public.
The Joint Commission cautions that the reporting of most Sentinel Events is voluntary and represents only a small proportion of actual events. Therefore, the data is epidemiologic data set and no conclusions should be drawn about the actual relative frequency of events or trends in events over time.