Risk Reduction Strategy to Decrease Incidence of Retained Surgical Items.

Background: Retained surgical items (RSIs) are rare but serious events associated with significant morbidity and costs. We assessed the effectiveness of radiofrequency (RF) detection technology and Team Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety (TeamSTEPPS) in reducing the incidence of RSIs.

Study Design: All RSIs reported to the New York Patient Occurrence Reporting and Tracking System at five large urban teaching hospitals from 2007 to 2017 were analyzed.