Each year, approximately 12 million adults in the U.S. experience a diagnostic error as part of an outpatient office visit – that’s one in 20 people. The National Academy of Medicine defines a diagnostic error as the failure to establish an accurate and timely explanation of the patient’s health problem(s) or communicate that explanation to the patient. In 2015, the academy published a report titled, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. The report finds that diagnosis – and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errors – has been largely underappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care.
Health systems are stepping up to the challenge and addressing errors in diagnosis. Patient safety researchers from Baylor College of Medicine, in collaboration with Geisinger, are developing a novel program to systematically measure and improve safety of clinical diagnosis, which they have named “The Safer Dx Learning Lab.” The foundation is supporting this first-of-its kind learning lab with Baylor and Geisinger, a pioneering integrated health care system known for its work in improving health care quality. The work is part of the Patient Care Program’s work in patient safety.
Principal investigator, Dr. Hardeep Singh, chief of the Health Policy, Quality and Informatics Program at the Houston VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety and associate professor of medicine at Baylor says: “I often get asked how health systems can reduce errors in diagnosis and use our emerging research findings to improve patient safety. Developing the Safer Dx Learning Lab offers us a perfect opportunity to work with health system leaders and clinical teams to translate research into meaningful care improvements.”
Read more about the work in a press release from Baylor College of Medicine.
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