ECRI has released its Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2026, identifying the technology-related risks that healthcare organizations should prioritize to reduce preventable harm. Published annually, this list reflects ECRI’s independent analysis of device safety, human factors, cybersecurity, workflow design, and system resilience. The 2026 hazards emphasize risks associated with artificial intelligence misuse, digital infrastructure fragility, supply chain integrity, medical device interoperability, cybersecurity exposure, and sterilization processes. ECRI’s work is widely used by healthcare technology management (HTM), clinical engineering, patient safety, and risk management teams to guide planning, procurement, and operational controls.
According to ECRI, the Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2026 are: misuse of AI chatbots in healthcare; unpreparedness for a “digital darkness” event; the growing challenge of substandard and falsified medical products; recall communication failures for home diabetes management technologies; tubing misconnections amid slow ENFit and NRFit adoption; underutilization of medication safety technologies in perioperative settings; deficient device cleaning instructions; cybersecurity risks from legacy medical devices; technology designs or configurations that prompt unsafe clinical workflows; and water quality issues during instrument sterilization. ECRI stresses that these hazards are largely preventable through improved governance, technology selection, workflow alignment, cybersecurity controls, and disciplined maintenance and reprocessing practices. The full executive brief and supporting materials are published by ECRI and remain the authoritative source.
