Publications & Resources

A new ECRI Institute report identifies the five key patient safety challenges in ambulatory care, naming diagnostic errors as the most common.

ECRI Institute says its list of “Top 10 Health Technology Hazards for 2020” can help health systems identify potential danger with certain technologies and take “steps to minimize the likelihood that adverse events will occur.”

A study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine indicates a possible gap in primary care physician (PCP) understanding of “risk factors, diagnostic criteria and recommended management/prevention practices for prediabetes.”

Researchers say that over “100,000 Americans die or are permanently disabled each year due to medical diagnoses that initially miss conditions or are wrong or delayed” and that “three major disease categories account for nearly three-fourths of all serious harms from diagnostic errors.”

Diagnostic error, test follow-up, infection control and physician burnout top ECRI Institute’s 2019 list of “Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations.”

The ECRI Institute recently convened a working group to identify how technology can facilitate timely action regarding test results and prevent missed or delayed diagnoses.

Two new online CME modules – “High Exposure Liability: Errors in Diagnosis – Parts I & II” — feature a physician expert and a defense attorney discussing factors that contribute to diagnostic errors and offering strategies for improving patient care and reducing potential risk.

Researchers are looking at how better measurement of diagnostic errors may help physicians track performance, gauge the effectiveness of interventions, reduce errors and improve patient outcomes.

A recent New York Times column reports on a growing body of research shows that physician burnout and depression are linked to medical errors and that nearly half of physicians experience burnout at some point.

Providing physicians with more “thinking time” and space for decision making may assist them in determining the appropriate diagnosis.