The Biggest Mistake Doctors Make

A patient with abdominal pain dies ... from a ruptured appendix after a doctor fails to do a complete physical exam. A biopsy comes back positive for prostate cancer, but no one follows up when the lab results gets misplaced. A child's fever and rash are diagnosed as a viral illness, but they turn out to be a much more serious case of bacterial meningitis.   

Such devastating errors lead to permanent damage or death for as many as 160,000 patients each year, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Not only are diagnostic problems more common than other medical mistakes - and more likely to harm patients - but they're also the leading cause of malpractice claims, accounting for 35% of nearly $39 billion in payouts in the U.S. from 1986 to 2010, measured in 2011 dollars, according to John Hopkins.

Misdiagnoses are among the most common, costly and harmful medical errors. But they are also some of the most preventable...

The good news is that diagnostic errors are more likely to be preventable than medical mistakes. And now health-care providers are turning to a number of innovative strategies to fix the complex web of errors, biases and oversights that stymie the quest for the right diagnosis.

Part of the solution  is automation -- using computers to sift through medical records to look for potential bad calls, or to prompt doctors to follow up on red-flag test results.

"Diagnostic error is probably the biggest patient-safety issue we face in health care, and it is finally getting on the radar od the patient quality and safety movement," Says Mark Graber, a longtime Veterans Administration physician and a fellow at the nonprofit research group RTI International.

Automation is not a process - Process is  a method of doing something, with all the steps  involved including the patient.

It is important to ask your Doctor These questions:

• Can you review my primary concerns and symptoms?
• How confident are you of the diagnosis?
• What further tests might be helpful to make more confident?
• Will the tests you are proposing change the treatment plan?
• Are there findings or symptoms that don't fit your diagnosis?
• What else could it be?
• Can you facilitate a second opinion by providing me with my medical records?
• When should I expect to see my test results?
• What resources can you recommend for me to learn more about the diagnosis?

I'm Jim Tripp and my email is jstripp@comcast.net .  I worked in healthcare for 40 years. Please send your questions.  You are the patient and it is imperative you ask about the process from the doctors and all other clinical staff members in hospital.

Resources taken from:

"The Journal Report: Health Care"
By Laura Landro
The Wall Street Journal