An 81 year old man arrived in the Emergency Room with subacute onset of shortness of breath. He had a history of Parkinson's Disease and hypertension, neither of which had caused any significant decline in his quality of life although he had noticeable intention tremor when he felt tired.
He'd been hospitalized many years ago for what sounded like a soft tissue abscess that took a long time to heal. After the hospitalization, he and his wife consulted a lawyer for help drafting an Advance Directive:
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Bob Wachter has written a thought-provoking post
on the hidden impact of diagnostic errors. The post discusses the current frenzy over preventing system-based errors (i.e. wrong drug, wrong side problems) which are made while providing patient care for an established diagnosis. But what if the diagnosis is wrong?
It is the classic GIGO scenario: the result is only as good as the data inputs that created it. As medical imaging becomes more sophisticated, genome mapping moves within reach, and competence in minimally-invasive surgical techniques increases, people naturally expect diagnostic accuracy to increase as well. Why wouldn't it?
Continue reading "The Impact of Diagnostic Errors" »