Studies show that 85 percent of harmful diagnostic errors could have been prevented. (representative)

New York:

A new study emphasizes that as many as 1 in 14 (7 percent) hospital patients are likely to make diagnostic errors that require new approaches to clinical monitoring.

The study, published online in the journal BMJ Quality and Safety, says that 85 percent of these errors are potentially preventable and emphasizes the need for new methods to improve surveillance so that These mistakes can be prevented from happening in the first place.

Common diagnoses associated with diagnostic errors include heart failure, acute kidney failure, sepsis, pneumonia, respiratory failure, altered mental status, abdominal pain and hypoxemia (low oxygen levels in the blood).

According to the study, cases considered at high risk of diagnostic error were transferred to intensive care 24 or more hours after admission, death or discharge within 90 days of hospital admission and those classified as complex medical problems. Discontinued but not transferred to acute medical problems. Care or death within 90 days of admission.

“Complex medical problems include medical deterioration, treatment by several different medical teams, unexpected events such as canceled surgery, unclear or unclear diagnostic information recorded in medical notes,” the findings show.

Harm was classified as minor, moderate, severe and fatal, and whether diagnostic error contributed to the harm and whether it could have been prevented was also assessed. Cases with discrepancies or uncertainty about diagnostic error or its effects were further evaluated by an expert panel.

Among all cases reviewed, diagnostic errors were found in 160 cases (154 patients). These included intensive care transfer (54), death within 90 days (34), complex medical problems (52) and low-risk patients (20).

An estimated 85 percent of harmful diagnostic errors are preventable, with older, white, non-Hispanic, non-privately insured and high-risk patients most at risk, the study authors wrote.

The researchers suggested that careful analysis of errors and integration of AI tools into workflows should help reduce their prevalence, by improving monitoring and triggering timely interventions.

(Other than the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)



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