Diagnostic errors are some of the deadliest medical errors causing often irreparable patient harm. A new initiative aims at recognizing hospitals for their efforts in preventing these errors.
The new initiative has been launched by The Leapfrog Group, which is a national organization of patient safety advocates. The initiative is called Recognizing Excellence in Diagnostics, and aims to publicly recognize and applaud hospitals that have done an exemplary job in reducing the risks of diagnostic errors. The project is a collaboration with the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine and has been funded by a grant by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
According to Leapfrog, diagnostic errors are some of the deadliest medical errors. Across the country, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis and other types of diagnostic errors figure in the top 10 causes of death every year. Annually, between 40,000 and 80,000 patient deaths are linked directly to diagnostic errors. In fact, these errors are much more widespread than people believe. The Leapfrog report claims that diagnostic errors will affect as many as 12 million Americans annually and 250,000 persons will be harmed by these errors.