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ECRI: AI's diagnostic capabilities pose patient safety risk in 2026

ECRI said AI use in diagnostic care could be a patient safety risk this year, echoing its earlier warning that patient-facing AI use could threaten safety.

Sara Heath
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Published: 10 Mar 2026

AI use in diagnostic care is one of the biggest threats to patient safety in 2026, global patient safety organization ECRI said in its annual Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns report.

While AI has the potential to revolutionize diagnostic care, ECRI stressed that the technology could "increase the risk of missed, delayed and incorrect diagnoses," the report states. ECRI also highlighted that there remains a serious threat of bias in AI algorithms, cautioning organizations against overreliance on the technology.

"In order for AI to be used effectively in diagnosis, clinicians must view it as a tool designed to supplement and support clinical expertise -- not replace it," ECRI wrote in the report. "This requires a balanced approach to adoption, thoughtfully considering both the benefits and risks of AI to the diagnostic process. Clinicians who want to best utilize an AI system for diagnosis must be trained on the system's proper use and must understand its capabilities and limitations."

This comes following the January publication of a separate ECRI report outlining the biggest health technology hazards for 2026. In that report, ECRI stated that overreliance on patient-facing chatbots -- including ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, Gemini and Grok -- poses the biggest risk to patient safety this year.

Rural healthcare access, vaccine hesitancy pose safety risks

ECRI also named some health system failures as potential patient safety threats this year.

Understaffing in rural areas, for example, limits healthcare access. ECRI also identified the rising rate of preventable acute illnesses -- driven in part by vaccine hesitancy -- as a leading patient safety threat this year.

"Rural communities are losing access to essential healthcare services," Marcus Schabacker, M.D., Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of ECRI, said in a press release. "At the same time, falling vaccination rates are driving a troubling rise in preventable diseases. Vaccines are foundational to patient safety, and we are seeing decades of hard-won progress in public health erode in the fight against diseases like measles and whooping cough."

"Now more than ever healthcare leaders must be proactive and creative to tackle these challenges," he added

Finally, ECRI flagged problems with adverse event reporting as a patient safety threat this year. Separate data from the Office of Inspector General has shown that about half of patient safety events and patient harms go unreported.

Because health systems can't improve what they don't accurately measure, event underreporting is a serious detriment to overall patient safety work. According to ECRI, underreporting happens when there are overly complex reporting systems and a lack of a just culture providing psychological safety to staff.

"When frontline clinicians do not feel psychologically safe reporting concerns, early warning signs of risk can be overlooked," Dheerendra Kommala, MD, chief medical officer at ECRI, said in a press release. "Building resilient teams and fostering a workplace culture that encourages transparency and continuous learning are essential to reducing preventable harm."

Overall, ECRI's 2026 report ranks the following issues as the most pressing threats to patient safety this year:

  1. Navigating the AI diagnostic dilemma.
  2. Reduced access to rural healthcare.
  3. Increasing rates of preventable acute diseases.
  4. Federal funding cuts hinder healthcare operations and safety.
  5. Lack of recognition and reporting of harm events.
  6. Inadequate pain management for women.
  7. Persistent workforce shortages.
  8. Culture of blame hinders learning and improvement.
  9. Emergency department boarding.
  10. Gaps in manufacturer packaging and labeling undermine medication safety.

Sara Heath has reported news related to patient engagement and health equity since 2015.

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