Shocking news on diagnostic errors

Beth Walsh | | Health Exec | EMR/EHR

This week, the Institute of Medicine issued a new report that delivered the shocking news that most patients will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. 

"Urgent change is warranted to address this challenge," the report said.

To matters worse, EHRs can stand in the way of correct diagnoses. Among the issues cited in the report are "auto-fill" functions leading to erroneous information being entered; EHRs' lacking interoperability; and the way the volume of inputs and alerts can overwhelm staff.

The report offers numerous suggestions for vendors, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and providers to improve the situation.

IOM called for ONC to require health IT vendors by 2018 to comply with interoperability standards that facilitate the flow of patient information across care settings and patient access to EHRs including clinical notes and diagnostic test results.

Meanwhile, health IT vendors should be required to "notify users about potential adverse effects on the diagnostic process related to the use of their products"; submit their products for routine independent evaluation; and support the free exchange of information about real-time user experiences with health IT design and implementation that negatively affect the diagnostic process.

Healthcare organizations and professionals should provide patients with opportunities to learn about diagnosis, as well as improved access to EHRs, and create environments in which patients and families are comfortable sharing feedback and concerns about possible diagnostic errors.

The committee also recommended that healthcare professional education and training emphasize clinical reasoning, teamwork, communication and diagnostic testing. It urged better alignment of health IT with the diagnostic process and said federal agencies should develop a coordinated research agenda on the diagnostic process and diagnostic errors by the end of 2016.

Will this clarion call drive real change? Time will tell.

Beth Walsh

Clinical Innovation + Technology editor

Beth Walsh,

Editor

Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.

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