Diagnosing Diagnosis Errors: Lessons from a Multi-institutional Collaborative Project

Abstract

Background: Diagnosis errors are frequent and important, but represent an underemphasized and understudied area of patient safety. Diagnosis errors are challenging to detect and dissect. It is often difficult to agree whether an error has occurred, and even harder to determine with certainty its causes and consequence. The authors applied four safety paradigms: (1) diagnosis as part of a system, (2) less reliance on human memory, (3) need to open “breathing space ” to reflect and discuss, (4) multidisciplinary perspectives and collaboration. Methods: The authors reviewed literature on diagnosis errors and developed a taxonomy delineating stages in the diagnostic process: (1) access and presentation, (2) history taking/collection, (3) the physical exam, (4) testing, (5) assessment, (6) referral, and (7) followup. The taxonomy identifies where in the diagnostic process the failures occur. The authors used this approach to analyze diagnosis errors collected over a 3-year period of weekly case conferences and by a survey of physicians. Results: The authors summarize challenges encountered from their