Diagnosis errors continues to be the leading malpractice cause

October 3, 2006

Seems like the suggested solution is a continued low threshold for ordering tests:

While researchers acknowledged that most claims involved several factors, they said major ones included mistakes by doctors: failure to order appropriate diagnostic tests . . .

. . . Doctors not involved with the study said the findings highlight the fact that physicians – and patients – need to err on the side of caution when it comes to ordering diagnostic tests . . .

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{ 1 comment }

1 Gasman October 3, 2006 at 12:02 pm

Hindsite bias is strong, and almost completely invisible to those who are in its grasp. It is easy to convince any rational person that a test, no matter how unlikely it was to have provided useful information before the outcome was to play out, was absolutely paramount. Knowning the answer massively biases the ‘experts’ and the lay public.

If money were no object, as it is for most insured patients, then we want the doc seeing us to order tests out the wazoo. We only whine when the test causes us discomfort (colonoscopy, biopsies, etc.), or time away from work or family (just about everything).

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