Good Samaritan Hospital

Latest Patient Safety Concerns for 2025: Emerging Risks and Mitigation Strategies

As the Patient Safety Director at Good Samaritan Hospital, I’ve come to understand that patient safety is not just a professional responsibility but a deeply personal mission. Driving forward our safety initiatives often feels intertwined with my own story of turning pain into purpose, the central theme of my upcoming book. Every instance of preventable harm reminds me why we must remain vigilant and proactive, particularly in recognizing and addressing new and evolving risks.

This year, ECRI released its Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for 2025, a dynamic guide that brings to light the most significant patient safety challenges healthcare leaders like us must face head-on. Their insights underscore the gravity of our work and I’m proud to incorporate their findings to help shape our strategies at Good Samaritan Hospital and beyond.

I’ll take you through some of the newest and most pressing risks ECRI has identified for 2025, sharing not only their insights but how we at Good Samaritan Hospital and in our broader healthcare communities can act now to mitigate these dangers:

1. Risks of Dismissing Patient and Family Concerns

This critical issue resonates deeply with me. Dismissing a patient’s or family member’s voice can lead to missed opportunities to catch evolving symptoms or uncover a misdiagnosis. ECRI calls this growing phenomenon “medical gaslighting.” Alarmingly, 55 percent of patients report worsened symptoms after their concerns were dismissed and 28 percent experience health emergencies as a result.

In my organization, we are taking extra steps to create a culture of listening. Implementing open-ended questions during consultations and empowering patients to speak up. Leadership discussions about unconscious bias and empathetic interaction are now embedded into our continuing education programs.

2. Insufficient Oversight of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare

AI has incredible potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and streamline care delivery, but as ECRI highlights, it also carries significant risks—from bias within algorithms to privacy concerns and reliance on unsupported data. Without robust governance, the consequences for patient safety could be disastrous.

A multidisciplinary AI oversight team can address these risks. AI tools should be evaluated not only for their clinical impact but also for their ethical and equitable application.

Transparency is key and it is important to implement systems to disclose AI usage in patient care, ensuring both staff and patients are informed and engaged in this evolving transformation.

3. The Wide Spread of Medical Misinformation

Medical misinformation is not just a public health problem; it’s a direct threat to patient safety. From unverified online “cures” to viral myths that deter patients from seeking care, misinformation can derail recovery or lead to harm.

One strategy that resonates with me is ECRI’s call to strengthen health literacy as a defense against misinformation. Healthcare organizations can provide education to help patients identify credible sources and build the confidence to ask their providers tough questions. Collaboration with trusted community figures has also helps to dispel misinformation, particularly in vulnerable populations.

4. Cybersecurity Breaches That Delay Care

Cyberattacks on healthcare organizations have reached an alarming frequency. ECRI’s data shows that such events directly impact patient safety, leading to care delays, diagnostic errors and stress on healthcare workers responsible for damage control.

Emergency preparedness plans should be updated regularly to include comprehensive responses to cyber incidents. This includes offline backup protocols for critical medical records and training for clinicians to maintain continuity of care even during IT disruptions. Strengthening this digital line of defense will reduce errors caused by breaches.

5. Diagnostic Errors in Cancers, Vascular Events and Infections (The “Big Three”)

ECRI identifies diagnostic error, specifically in high-severity conditions like cancers, vascular events and infections, as a leading cause of preventable deaths. This strikes at the heart of our mission to diagnose and treat earlier and more accurately.

To address this, healthcare organizations must commit to enhance diagnostic systems, implementing closed-loop reporting to track and follow up on tests seamlessly. Training clinicians to use diagnostic timeouts, where they pause to reconsider alternate conditions, has also shown potential in reducing errors due to cognitive bias.

Moving Forward with Purpose

Reflecting on these risks reminds me once again why I chose this field. Patient safety is not just about preventing harm; it’s about meeting individuals where they are and advocating for care that restores dignity, trust and health. Each day, we’re reminded of the unique opportunity to bridge gaps and build safer systems, one relationship at a time.

I’ll be sharing more on how personal stories and systemic transformations intersect in my upcoming book, From Pain to Purpose. Writing this book has allowed me to synthesize the lessons learned from a career focused on eliminating preventable harm.

Together, our community and beyond must continue asking the hard questions. What biases are undetected in our processes? How are we measuring inclusion, trust, or resilience in the safety equation? Most importantly, how are we stepping in to safeguard vulnerable patients from emerging risks?

ECRI has given us a roadmap for action in 2025. It’s up to us to use it thoughtfully, ground it in compassion and drive forward impactful change. I believe that when we answer these challenges with both science and heart, not only will we save lives, but we’ll also rediscover purpose—for ourselves and for the patients and families who depend on us.