Page 19 - APP Collaboration - Assessing the Risk (Part Two)

SVMIC Advanced Practice Provider Collaboration: Assessing the Risk

having the opportunity to reverse the course on a delayed or

missed diagnosis, especially a life-altering diagnosis, can haunt
a physician and lead to a lengthy lawsuit.

Nothing represents these concerns better than a claim from

a patient or family of a failure to diagnose cancer. A recent
review of professional liability claims from across the United

States shows that diagnosis-related claims account for a higher
percentage of dollar costs than any other category. Diagnostic

errors are the leading type of paid medical malpractice claims;
they’re almost twice as likely to have resulted in a patient’s

death compared to other claims and represent the highest
proportion of total payments. There are several key studies

that examine the most commonly misdiagnosed conditions.
One of those studies was published in 2014, and it was partially

funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
6
The study estimated that approximately 12 million adults in the

United States could experience an outpatient diagnostic error
each year. Of those, 46 percent involved both system-related

and cognitive factors. The majority of diagnostic errors are
preventable yet are a significant contributor to patient injury

and death. The diagnostic process typically involves multiple
stages of gathering and synthesizing information as a result

of observations. However, knowledge deficit on behalf of the
physician is not the most prevalent factor associated with

diagnostic error.

Errors in medical decision-making are often a result of many

factors including faulty data gathering, incomplete synthesis
of data, failure to consider differential diagnoses, and defective

systems and processes.

6 https://psnet.ahrq.gov/perspective/handoffs-and-transitions

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