Role of communicating diagnostic uncertainty in the safety-netting process: insights from a vignette study.

Patients who visit the emergency department (ED) or urgent care may receive instructions to return to care if symptoms persist or new symptoms arise ("safety-netting"), particularly in cases of diagnostic uncertainty. In this study, internal medicine physicians were asked what they would tell a typical patient in three scenarios of diagnostic uncertainty. Safety-netting was common, but the specific content and recommended actions varied, and few physicians explicitly mentioned diagnostic uncertainty.