AHRQ Issue Brief 3: Evidence on use of clinical reasoning checklists for diagnostic error reduction (September 2020)

Summary

The use of checklists as a tool to improve performance has proven successful in a variety of healthcare settings. For instance, checklists have been successful in preventing hospital-acquired infections and preventing errors in the surgical process. The use of checklists has also been recommended as a tool to reduce diagnostic errors.

Diagnostic errors are frequent and often have severe consequences but have received little attention in the field of patient safety. Checklists are considered a promising intervention for the area of diagnosis because they can support clinicians in their diagnostic decision making by helping them take correct diagnostic steps and ensuring that possible diagnoses are not overlooked. This Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) issue brief summarises current evidence on using checklists to improve diagnostic reasoning.