decisionhealth Newsletters, Part B News - 2019 Issue 7 (July)
Avoid diagnostic errors to cut back on patient harm, costly malpractice
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Article Overview
This article examines how diagnostic errors contribute to patient harm and malpractice exposure, with emphasis on high-risk diagnostic categories and practice-level approaches to improving diagnostic reliability. It is aimed at clinicians, practice leaders, and coding or compliance staff who want a broad understanding of diagnostic support tools, consultation workflows, and billing-related considerations tied to interprofessional consults and diagnostic testing.
Why This Topic Matters
Diagnostic errors can lead to serious patient harm and substantial malpractice costs, so understanding the main risk areas and the organizational supports that may reduce missed or delayed diagnoses is important for both care quality and practice management.
Article Sections
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Diagnostic errors, patient harm, and malpractice risk
Introduces the scope of diagnostic error as a patient safety and liability issue. Summarizes research findings about the overall impact on malpractice claims and serious outcomes.
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High-risk diagnostic categories highlighted by the study
Reviews the broad groups of conditions emphasized in the research and the way the study narrows attention to a smaller set of especially consequential diagnoses. Discusses the significance of these findings for clinicians and researchers.
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Build out support systems
Outlines practice-level approaches intended to support diagnostic thinking and reduce missed opportunities. Covers workflow support, consultation practices, team input, and follow-through on testing and interpretation.
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Resources
Lists external references and tools mentioned for additional review. Includes a research citation and a diagnostic checklist resource.
What You Will Learn
- The general relationship between diagnostic errors, patient harm, and malpractice exposure.
- Which broad categories of diagnoses are emphasized as especially important to diagnostic safety efforts.
- How practices can use decision-support tools, consultation workflows, and team-based processes to support diagnosis.
- Why closing the loop on testing and interpretation is discussed as part of diagnostic reliability.
Who Should Read This
- Physicians
- Nurse practitioners
- Physician assistants
- Practice managers
- Medical coders and compliance staff
- Patient safety and quality improvement professionals
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