Adverse diagnostic events in hospitalised patients: a single-centre, retrospective cohort study (1 October 2024)

Summary

This study in BMJ Quality and Safety aimed to retrospectively estimate the prevalence of harmful diagnostic errors in a randomly selected sample of 675 patients receiving general medical care in a US hospital between July 2019 and September 2021. The researchers developed and validated a structured case review process to enable clinicians to interrogate the electronic health record (EHR) to evaluate the diagnostic process for hospital patients, assess the likelihood of a diagnostic error and characterise the impact and severity of harm. Their findings estimate that harmful diagnostic errors may be occurring in as many as 1 in every 14 (7%) hospital patients.

Read a easy-read press release about the research