Misdiagnoses are the leading cause of malpractice claims, leading to the highest amount of paid claims at 35.2 percent, according to a study in BMJ Quality Safety.
The study looked at diagnoses related payments from 1986 to 2010 and found the inflation-adjusted total payment was $38.8 billion.
However, there are a number of factors and tools that can help prevent diagnostic errors, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
1. Computers and technology — Physicians can use technology to sort through information and medical records and to use tests that can help them identify diseases and conditions more accurately.
2. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act — The new healthcare law requires physicians to coordinate care which leads to more eyes looking at patient records and ensuring patients are receiving holistic care.
3. New studies — The Institute of Medicine is conducting a $1 million study on the effects of diagnostic errors on healthcare.
4. Electronic decision support systems — These programs, such as Isabel and DXplain, help physicians rank possible diagnoses by analyzing medical records and reported symptoms.
5. Portable diagnostic tools — Devices such as MelaFind, a tool to non-evasively examine moles, help quicken the diagnostic process by analyzing small quantities of blood or other bodily fluids to offer diagnoses more quickly.
6. Critical thinking — Despite having increased tools and technology, a physician's trained eye is strengthened by an open mind and critical thinking to more effectively reach a proper diagnosis. Medical schools are implementing programs to avoid "anchoring" and "premature closing" which contribute to the risk of not considering all possibilities of a diagnosis.
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