Wikipedia defines a sentinel event as “any unanticipated event in a healthcare setting resulting in death or serious physical or psychological injury to a patient or patients， not related to the natural course of the patient‘s illness.”1 Once a sentinel event occurs， not only does the patient suffer， but so do relatives， caregivers， and even insurance companies. According to sentinel events statistics from Joint Commission International2 （JCI）， a total of 6，567 sentinel events were reported through September 30， 2009. Of the events reported， 4，441 resulted in a patient death， an alarming statistic which represents 68 percent of the total.

　　A quick review of the JCI statistics show that the categories： medication error， transfusion error， wrong medical equipment–related， and delay in treatment; have a combined value of 20.6 percent of all sentinel events reported. Several root causes can be identified， most of which point to inefficiencies in communications. Sometimes， these events are errors of omission by hospital staff， while others are a part of the patient assessment process.

　　In recent years， hospitals and research centers have invested heavily in many different solutions to the problems of sentinel

　　events， mostly related to information and communication technologies （ICT）。 There are several reasons for this. ICT can help healthcare facilities reach different goals， including：

　　? Increasing accuracy and safety of care

　　? Increasing staff productivity

　　? Streamlining medication workflow

　　? Increasing patient satisfaction

　　? Increasing Return on Investment

　　To understand how ICT solutions benefit healthcare providers， it is important to begin by taking a look at the solutions available on the market.

　　1 Wikipedia. Sentinel Event. Website： http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sentinel_event. Retrieved March 2nd， 2010.

　　2 Joint Commission. Sentinel Event Statistics collected from January 1995 through September 30， 2009. From Joint Commission ? The Joint Commission， 2010. Reprinted with permission.

　　No changes in， additions to， or deletions from the text should be used without prior written approval of The Joint Commission. Permission applies only to the material specified in this correspondence. New applications should be made for subsequent use or for other uses of this material.