Five strategies for clinicians to advance diagnostic excellence (16 February 2022)

Summary

This practice pointer in The BMJ explains why diagnostic errors occur and provides five strategies that healthcare workers can use to achieve diagnostic excellence. Each of these strategies is explored in detail:

1. Seek diagnostic feedback, which includes tracking patient outcomes and seeking feedback from patients, families and other healthcare workers.
2. "Byte sized" learning, which involves digital learning activities.
3. Consider bias by getting to know patients and treating them as individuals, and through taking a 'diagnostic pause' to consider whether bias is playing into decisions.
4. Make diagnosis a team sport through multidisciplinary huddles that include healthcare workers from different professions.
5. Foster critical thinking by using intentional strategies to foster reflective scepticism and regular review.

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