We Are All Patients

When we’re sick and head to our doctor, we expect him or her to know exactly what’s wrong with us, prescribe us medication that will work, and send us on our way.

But doctors aren’t robots; they’re human. You can’t input a set of symptoms to your doctor and have him or her magically come up with the right diagnosis every time. No one can know it all in modern-day medicine; there’s just too much to memorize.

A recent study by Coverys, a malpractice services provider, found that 33% of all malpractice claims from 2013-2017 were related to diagnostic error. Of all the complaints against doctors, a third of them have to do with misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis.

Digging deeper into those numbers, 53% of the claims related to diagnosis involved poor clinical decision-making. 36% of diagnosis-related claims are made in an office/outpatient setting. Learn more about how VisualDx and Coverys are committed to patient safety and reducing diagnostic errors.

Why so many misdiagnoses? According to Coverys, there are many reasons. Looking more closely at those diagnosis-related claims, 21% involved a healthcare professional with too narrow of a diagnostic focus. The doctor just believed he or she had the correct diagnosis and didn’t think about all the diagnostic possibilities. 19% didn’t provide the right testing, 17% misinterpreted tests, and 10% failed to adequately assess the patient’s condition among other things. These are all missed opportunities for the doctor that could have been understood and turned into accurate diagnoses had the doctor used the right tools and assessments.

This is a medical crisis. According to the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) report in September 2015 report, diagnostic errors are made in 5% of all outpatient office visits per year. 18 million primary care diagnostic errors are made each year in the US. 74,000 people die each year due to diagnostic error.

The Coverys report provides various recommendations, including the use of clinical decision support .

Because we all will one day be patients, United for Patient Safety lists 10 things you can do tomorrow that can reduce diagnostic error and improve patient safety, especially your own. Here are a few of their suggestions:

1. Be a good historian and trust your own judgment. Keep records of your symptoms, when they started, how they’ve responded (or not) to treatment
2. Make sure you know your test results and keep accurate records of them
3. Speak up and ask “What else could it be?” “What should I expect?” “When and how should I follow up if symptoms persist or worsen?” “What resources can I use to learn more?” “Is this test worthwhile? Can we wait?”
4. Understand that diagnosis always involves some element of uncertainty
5. Get a second opinion regarding serious diagnoses or unresolved symptoms.

We are all patients. We entrust doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals with our health, believing they are doing all they can to keep us safe and healthy. It is up to us to continue to push for patient safety. Celebrate Patient Safety Awareness week all week.