Getting an accurate and timely diagnosis is fundamental to effective health care. It serves as the bedrock upon which all subsequent medical decisions are made, offering clarity on a patient’s health issues. The diagnostic process, however, is intricate, demanding collaboration, clinical expertise, and thorough information gathering to pinpoint the precise nature of a patient’s ailment. Despite its critical role, diagnostic errors – defined as diagnoses that are inaccurate or delayed – are alarmingly common across all health care settings, leading to significant harm for a substantial number of individuals. The report Improving Diagnosis in Health Care from the National Academy of Medicine highlights this critical issue.
The groundbreaking report, Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a successor to the influential Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), brings to light a long-standing but underappreciated aspect of health care quality and safety: diagnostic accuracy. For too long, the significance of diagnosis, and particularly the prevalence and impact of diagnostic errors, has been overshadowed in broader efforts to enhance health care systems. Without a dedicated and focused approach to improving diagnosis in health care, the problem of diagnostic errors is projected to escalate. This is driven by the ever-increasing complexity of health care delivery and the diagnostic process itself, which incorporates a growing volume of medical information and technological advancements.
Diagnostic errors have profound consequences for patients. They can lead to delayed or inappropriate treatment, exposure to unnecessary or even harmful interventions, and significant psychological and financial burdens. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care emphasizes that tackling this challenge is not merely an option but an ethical, professional, and public health imperative. The path forward, as with the diagnostic process itself, necessitates a collaborative effort. Health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policymakers must all engage and commit to a shared vision of change. The recommendations put forth in Improving Diagnosis in Health Care are designed to galvanize action and build upon the growing momentum for positive change in this vital domain of health care quality and patient safety. By focusing on improving diagnosis in health care, we can collectively strive to minimize diagnostic errors and ensure safer, more effective care for all patients.
