Summary
This landmark report from the Leapfrog Group, an independent national healthcare safety watchdog in the US, is the result of an intensive year-long effort bringing together the nation’s leading experts on diagnostic excellence, including physicians, nurses, patients, health plans, and employers. Together, the multi-stakeholder group reviewed the evidence and identified 29 evidence-based actions hospitals can implement now to protect patients from harm or death due to diagnostic errors.
Diagnostic errors contribute to 40,000-80,000 deaths a year, with over 250,000 Americans experiencing a diagnostic error in hospitals. This includes delayed, wrong, and missed diagnoses, and those that are not effectively communicated to the patient.
Content
For each recommended practice, the Leapfrog report includes descriptions and resources to help hospitals implement the practice. The report also offers guidance to employers, purchasers, and patient advocates to motivate hospital action. Featured practices in the report include:
- Making it easy for patients and family caregivers to report their diagnostic errors and concerns to the hospital.
- Implementing “closed-loop” communication to ensure that test results are reviewed by the ordering clinician and communicated to the patient on a timely basis.
- Convening a multidisciplinary team to implement hospital-wide diagnostic quality and safety programs, including the emergency department.
Beginning in Autumn 2022, Leapfrog will begin a pilot programme to survey hospitals based on practices identified in this report, feedback from which will eventually be used for a new section in the Leapfrog Hospital Survey.
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