Diagnostic Errors Test the Promise and Limitations of HIT

Nov 12, 2015, 09:40 by Michael Croft

Diagnostics World | Following a recent report from the Institute of Medicine that concludes most Americans will receive at least one misdiagnosis in their lifetimes, Drs. Hardeep Singh and Mark Graber have published recommendations in the New England Journal of Medicine for reforms, both technological and cultural, to address the issue of diagnostic error.

By Aaron Krol

November 12, 2015 | The New England Journal of Medicine has published an opinion piece by Drs. Hardeep Singh and Mark Graber, calling for healthcare reforms to reduce the rate of diagnostic errors. These errors, Singh and Graber write, “may be one of the most common and harmful of patient-safety problems,” affecting an estimated one in ten diagnoses and often delaying effective care, or even leading to unnecessary interventions.

To combat diagnostic errors, the authors recommend new health information technology (HIT) approaches, cultural and organizational changes in the way patients are diagnosed, and increased funding for research into the issue.

Read the whole story at Diagnostics World.