Roughly 15 years ago, the Institute of Medicine released "To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System," a report that changed the industry forever. Today, the IOM released "Improving Diagnosis in Health Care," a follow-up to the earlier report that focuses on diagnostic errors and what can be done to prevent them.
According to estimates given in the new IOM report, diagnostic errors account for 6 to 17 percent of hospital adverse events and approximately 10 percent of patient deaths. Affecting roughly 5 percent of U.S. adults who seek outpatient care each year, diagnostic errors are also the leading type of paid medical malpractice claim.
Despite these considerable numbers, diagnostic errors have received relatively little attention since the release of "To Err Is Human" because there is sparse data and few reliable measures on diagnostic errors, which are typically identified only in retrospect.
The report outlines many goals and possible solutions to preventing diagnostic errors, including establishing partnerships with patients and their families to improve diagnoses and improving collaboration and teamwork among and between healthcare professionals.
Additionally, the report outlines five key issues that "must be addressed if diagnostic errors are to be reduced," which are summarized below.
1. Emphasize education and training for healthcare professionals to enhance reasoning, teamwork and communication.
2. Improve the utility of health information technology in the diagnostic process, as well as the general clinical process.
3. Develop approaches to monitor the diagnostic process and identify, learn from and reduce errors.
4. Establish an organizational culture that encourages open discussion and feedback on diagnostic performance.
5. Highlight the increasingly important role of radiologists and pathologists as critical members of the diagnostic team.
To read the full report, click here.
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