Physicians practicing in an emergency department with trainees make errors similar to those made in inpatient wards, with physicians making more information- processing errors than errors of inadequate knowledge, a study published in De Gruyter's journal Diagnosis found.
The researchers examined patients who returned to EDs a second time within 72 hours and were admitted to the hospital on their second visit, indicating care could have been improved on the first visit.
A trained team of physicians analyzed each case to identify whether the team during the patient's first visit may have made a mistake. If they found a mistake, the researchers determined the type of mistake.
Here are five study insights on the frequency of different types of errors in the ED:
1. The most frequently identified type of error (45 percent of cases) was a problem with information processing.
2. The second most common type of error identified was a problem with verifying gathered information (31 percent).
3. Inadequate knowledge problems (6 percent) and inadequate information-gathering (18 percent) happened infrequently, the study found.
4. Individual errors that happened most often were misjudging how significant a finding was and prematurely deciding on an incorrect diagnosis (13 percent each).
5. Patients with abdominal complaints might be particularly vulnerable to these errors, the study found.
"It's critical that we understand how and why these errors happen so that we can start to work to prevent them, and this is one small step toward that," said study author Benjamin Schnapp, MD.
To access the full study, click here.