AHRQ Study finds Diagnostic Errors Still Occurring in about 5% of U.S. Adults

April 16, 2014

PRNewswire details the growing problem of misdiagnosis summarized in the study by AHRQ(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) published in April 21 2014 issue of BMJ Quality & Safety. The study researched data from previous studies on primary care diagnosis, colorectal cancer diagnosis and lung cancer diagnosis. In about a half of these diagnostic errors, the study estimates that the errors could have severely harmed the patients. The study is significant due to its large sample size and is consistent with general public data on diagnostic errors. To follow up to this report, the AHRQ published a toolkit with guidelines for improving tracking, reporting and follow up processes. In addition to AHRQ’s toolkit, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology also recently issued “SAFER Guide” with guidelines and recommendations for more carefully using electronic information technology.

View the full article on PRNewswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/outpatient-diagnostic-errors-affect-1-in-20-us-adults-ahrq-study-finds-255563071.html

AHRQ Toolkit for Office Testing Process Improvement: http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/quality-resources/tools/office-testing-toolkit/index.html

HealthIT.gov SAFER Guides: http://www.healthit.gov/safer/safer-guides