Patient Safety Classifications for Health Information Technology (HIT) and Medical Devices: A Review on Available Systems

Background: Patient safety classifications are used to collect, classify and analyze patient safety data. Objective: This review was conducted to identify and compare the subject and coverage of existing patient safety classifications for Health Information Technology (HIT) and medical devices in which HIT may cover. Methods: All studies in patient safety that developed or extended any type of classification in HIT and medical devices were included. We identified and classified the covered concepts in these systems. Results: We identified 7 articles that met all of the inclusion criteria, resulting in 6 classifications. The most common patient safety subjects included adverse events and medication errors. Incident types and contributing factors/hazards were the most frequently covered concepts. Conclusions: Patient safety classifications in HIT cover more concepts and classes than medical device classifications. It is therefore recommended to improve existing classification systems in terms of covered concepts and classes.