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Study
Uncharted territory: measuring costs of diagnostic errors outside the medical record.
July 25, 2012
Schwartz A, Weiner SJ, Weaver FM, et al. BMJ Qual Saf. 2012;21(11):918-24.
Failure to appreciate the role of contextual factors—such as patients' access to care or social support—can result in diagnostic errors. In this analysis of data from a prior study, failure to appropriately individualize care based on contextual factors led to substantial excess costs, often due to prescribing unnecessary medications. The investigators also make the important point that most of these errors would not have been detected by standard quality measures for outpatient care.
