Diagnostic errors more common, costly and harmful than treatment mistakes

This is the headline for an important review paper in BMJ in Quality and Safety. The paper is a must read for everyone. As noted by the authors, diagnostic errors are more complex and open up a huge can worms relative to surgical and medication errors. Given that the review only looks at the worst cases, the extent of the problem is probably severely underestimated. The results are even more striking when we consider the increase in defensive medicine. Psychology, in collaboration with medicine, has a huge role to play here.

The full paper can be found at: BMJ Qual Saf doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001550

A short synopsis of the main results can be found at: http://m.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/diagnostic_errors_more_common_costly_and_harmful_than_treatment_mistakes