A study, published in Academic Pediatrics, examined the frequency of diagnostic errors and missed opportunities for diagnoses in primary care pediatrics.
Researchers studied 25 primary care pediatric practices that were randomized to collect five months of retrospective data as part of a national quality improvement collaborative. The practices collected data on one diagnostic error (elevated blood pressure and abnormal laboratory values) or missed opportunity for diagnosis (adolescent depression evaluation).
The study shows that diagnostic error or missed opportunity for diagnosis rates were as follows:
• 54 percent for the 389 patients with elevated BP
• 11 percent for the 381 patients with abnormal laboratory values
• 62 percent for the 400 adolescents with an opportunity to evaluate for depression
Additionally, providers did not document recognition of an elevated BP in the 51 percent of patients with elevated BP, and they did not document recognition of an abnormal laboratory value without a delay in the 9 percent of patients with abnormal laboratory values.
"[Diagnostic errors and missed opportunities for diagnosis] occur at an appreciable frequency in pediatric primary care," study authors concluded.
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