Join WSHA for an information session at 1 p.m. Dec. 8 for the information session “Journey to Diagnostic Excellence.” Please register here. Diagnostic error is the failure to establish an accurate and timely explanation of the patient’s health problem or communicate that explanation to the patient. These are diagnoses that are delayed, wrong or missed altogether, resulting in low value care, according National Academy of Medicine.
Diagnostic errors are the leading category of paid malpractice claims in the U.S. in the last decade, reaching about 30 percent or estimated cumulative costs likely in the $50 billion to $100 billion range. Given the prevalence and impact of diagnostic errors, health care leaders must address them as part of their quality improvement and patient safety programs. WSHA is engaging members to join in learning collaboratives starting January 2023 to build structure and enhance functions within their health systems to identify, monitor and synthesize diagnostic errors.
While there is no single cause to diagnostic error and therefore no single solution to the problem, this complex issue must be solved through a systems improvement structure. WSHA will provide a framework to improve systems. (Trish Anderson)
