In the past several decades, technological advances have opened new possibilities for improving patient safety. Using technology to digitize healthcare processes has the potential to increase standardization and efficiency of clinical workflows and to reduce errors and cost across all healthcare settings.¹ However, if technological approaches are designed or implemented poorly, the burden on clinicians can increase. For example, overburdened clinicians can experience alert fatigue and fail to respond to notifications. This can lead to more medical errors.

An adult woman with a history of suicidal ideation was taking prescribed antidepressants, but later required admission to the hospital after overdosing on her prescribed medications. A consulting psychiatrist evaluated the patient but recommended sending her home on a benzodiazepine alone, under observation by her mother.

Medication reconciliation is a common strategy to improve patient safety but is complex and time consuming. Three academic medical centers developed and implemented a risk stratification tool so limited pharmacist resources could be allocated to patients with the highest likelihood of medication adverse events.

Minoritized patients continue to experience disproportionately high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality. This hospital developed a health-equity checklist to identify if bias and/or social determinants of health played a role in preventable adverse events.