Diagnostic Error: The Big Three—Vascular Events, Infections, and Cancer
Diagnostic failures continue to be the most common error of high severity, high cost malpractice claims. A recent study found that three main disease categories—vascular events, infections, and cancers—accounted for 75% of all these claims. In this presentation, study authors from John Hopkins University School of Medicine and CRICO describe their findings, share specific case stories and make recommendations for clinical initiatives that could have a significant impact on this patient safety dilemma.
Researchers analyzed Candello data—a database of more than 400,000 malpractice claims drawn from more than 400 academic and community medical centers, and is estimated to contain 30 percent of all malpractice claims in the United States. The study examined approximately 55,000 malpractice claims from Candello to determine how many were attributable to diagnostic error. The research was funded by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) through a grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and published in the journal, Diagnosis.
