This article discusses medical errors and how costly they are to patients.
Despite the advancements in modern medicine, obtaining a proper diagnosis from a doctor is not an easy task. Studies suggest that doctors can make a wrong diagnosis for about 10 - 15% of office visits for a new problem. As reported in ConsumerReports.org, a study conducted by the Houston Veterans Affairs Facility, misdiagnoses mostly involve conditions such as cancer, pneumonia, acute renal failure, urinary tract infections and congestive heart failure. A misdiagnosis of a health condition by a doctor can increase the medical cost leading to unnecessary tests or appointments even if it is corrected at a later stage. Misdiagnosis can happen in doctor's offices or in hospitals. According to a report by Dr. David Newman-Toker, an associate professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and colleagues in the August 2013 issue of BMJ Quality and Safety in Health Care, around 160,000 hospitalized patients die or experience a serious injury either due to misdiagnosis of a health condition,failure to track the problem at an earlier stage or arriving late at hospitals.
It cannot be assumed that diagnostic errors occur entirely due to the doctor's ignorance. Often, doctors need to figure out what's wrong with the patient within a limited time. Moreover, patients may not provide accurate information about his /her disease symptoms or previous medical history. At times, even the most astute physician can go wrong if he/she is interrupted at different times by the supporting staff. Also, an office staff can unintentionally misdirect the doctor by entering incorrect complaints in the patient health care record.
How Diagnosis Mistakes Occur
Mistakes can happen in the prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, documenting, administering and monitoring stages. In certain cases, inaccurate laboratory test results lead to these costly errors. According to the review published online in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety, laboratory test results are wrong or misleading in 2 percent to 4 percent of medical cases.
More than 80% of medical diagnostic errors happen due to lack of communication between the doctor and the patient. These include shortcomings in reviewing the patient's previous health records, misinterpreting laboratory tests and wrong assumptions when performing physical exams.
Medical transcription errors can cause harm to patients and also affect diagnosis and treatment. Often, medical transcriptionists misspell or misinterpret the diagnostic notes of physicians and transcribe these incorrectly. For example, if a doctor prescribes a medication dosage as 1.0 mg and it is misinterpreted as 10 mg, it can lead to serious errors. Incorrect transcription of hospital discharge summaries or transcription typing errors also lead to serious medical mistakes. This is why transcription is to be done only by a reliable transcription service provider.
When physicians dictate erratic data, it gets carried over into the transcripts also when medical transcription is done. However, the advantage of having a professional medical transcription company is that they may be able to spot confusing data and report the same to the provider. This is possible because reliable medical transcription firms do more than mechanically create the transcripts. They listen to the dictated data conscientiously and are therefore able to minimize errors that may prove costly later on.
Adopting the following strategies will enable providers to make accurate diagnoses-
- Try not to be stressed with too many appointments
- Insist that the patients bring their detailed medical history with information regarding all medications including dietary supplements they are taking.
- Document the patient's symptoms carefully to reach a correct diagnosis. Consider whether the patient has to undergo further tests or has to be referred to a specialist. Give the patient clear instructions regarding the next steps to take.
- Interpret all the imaging and lab test results carefully to provide an accurate diagnosis. Advise the patients on what follow-up is required for abnormal results that have shown up in the tests. This will help to prevent delayed diagnoses and potential risk to the patient's life.
- Make sure that your patient records are accurate and complete so that there is no room for medical errors even if the patient has to seek treatment elsewhere.
It is important for the healthcare industry to find better ways to communicate as the number of people seeking healthcare services is bound to increase in the coming years. Providers on their part need to exercise more caution when making a diagnosis, prescribing and evaluating tests, prescribing medications and preparing vital medical documentation.