What are you doing to keep your patients and healthcare institution safe from risk?

A recent study published in The BMJ has revealed that nearly 800,000 people die or become permanently disabled due to medical error each year in the United States. This is a sobering reminder of how critical it is that healthcare providers and systems ensure patient safety. Staffing shortages, advanced practice providers being pressured to perform beyond their training, and burnout all contribute.

In addition to the human cost, medical error also places a considerable financial risk upon our health systems. This is seen in the form of unreimbursed care due to inappropriate referrals, admissions for conditions that could have been avoided if caught early enough or treated more accurately, and of course, insurance claims.

The good news is that when we provide physicians with clinical decision support at the point-of-care we can help minimize these risks. By utilizing advanced AI models combined with evidence-based content curated by experts within their field, VisualDx provides physicians, NPs, and PAs access to thousands of images along with information about disease presentations so they can make more informed decisions quickly while reducing potential harm caused by incorrect diagnoses or treatments.

This type of decision support technology has been proven to not only improve outcomes but also save money through reducing inappropriate hospital admissions. In another recent study, the University of Maryland Medical System reported 38% fewer admissions for cellulitis when Emergency Department clinicians used VisualDx within the electronic health record at the time of diagnosis. Using VisualDx also significantly reduced antibiotic use due to proper identification of cellulitis mimics.

At VisualDx we understand how important it is for all clinicians—generalist and specialists alike—to make accurate decisions quickly and confidently so that patients receive proper care without unnecessary delays or harm caused by misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or overdiagnosis. We believe that we have a duty to provide clinicians access tools like VisualDx to help reduce avoidable deaths and disabilities caused by medical error across all healthcare settings worldwide.