Doctor error may be incurable, research reveals

Doctor error is something most patients wish they will never experience but according to a new report, that is unlikely as everyone will probably get a misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis once in their lives.

CNN writes that based on an analysis released by the Institute of Medicine last Tuesday, these clinical errors from inattentive or neglectful medical practitioners have resulted to harmful and sometimes fatal consequences for patients. Furthermore, the researchers projected that the cases of doctor error will worsen as the health care system becomes complicated.

Dr. Peter Pronovost from the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at the Johns Hopkins Hospital believes this issue is one of the most under-recognized in patient safety and worst of all, the inevitable harmful occurrences are preventable. He further states that it is just sad that bad outcomes are often accepted as a norm, which can provoke public skepticism to the system.

According to the report, the researchers do not exactly know how many misdiagnosis or delayed treatment have occurred but they believe doctor error affects about 12 million adults in a year or an estimate of 5 percent of adults who had sought outpatient care, The Washington Post reports. There are no specific cases mentioned because it is hard to measure mistakes. The chair of the committee, John R. Ball, shares data regarding the matter is limited, while some errors are identified only during a study.

President of the institute Victor Dazu said during the press release last Tuesday, "Despite the pervasiveness of diagnostic error and the risk for patient harm, they have been largely unappreciated within the quality safety movement in health care and this cannot and must not continue."

Experts argue that diagnosis is one of the most complex tasks of healthcare as it involves tens of thousands of potential diagnoses, thousands of labs tests, and several doctors and patients.

However, Ball cites changes to help rectify the findings and that includes improved teamwork between health care facilities, providers and professionals, CTV News adds. Integrating the patients is also vital to the solution, like taking their complaints seriously, providing quick results of tests and encouraging them to ask questions.

Committee member and president of the National Quality Forum Dr. Christine Cassel also recommends physicians to call on their colleagues should they discover the right diagnosis. She shares it should be the normal procedure and shouldn't be considered an embarrassment for the other physicians.

"That's the only way we can really learn," Dr. Cassel adds.