Previous research has found that three diseases (vascular events, infections, and cancers) account for approximately 50% of all serious misdiagnosis-related harm. Based on a sample of 21.5 million US hospital discharges, the authors estimated that 795,000 adults in the US experience serious misdiagnosis-related harm (permanent morbidity or mortality) attributable to these three disease categories each year.

Symptom–Disease Pair Analysis of Diagnostic Error (SPADE) is a framework to measure diagnostic errors using existing databases, such as electronic health records or administrative claims. The original developers of the SPADE framework provide additional guidance on types of comparator groups, how to select the appropriate group, and what inferences can be drawn from the analysis.

… BMJ … Primary care often initiates a diagnostic process that is vulnerable to miscommunication, … delay in primary care occurs. The authors suggest a systems approach targeting interconnected process elements … and sustain improvement. … Black GB, Lyratzopoulos G, Vincent CA, et al. Early diagnosis of cancer: systems …

The quality and culture of the health care work environment is known to affect care delivery. This commentary discusses human-centered and participatory design approaches as avenues for developing improvements in clinician well-being that will enhance safety for staff, providers, and patients.

‘Second victim’ is controversial term used to describe health care professionals who experience continuing psychological harm after involvement in a medical error or adverse event. In this study, an expert panel reviewed existing definitions of ‘second victim’ in the literature and proposed a new consensus-based definition.

Medical errors should be examined in the context of system failure to generate lasting opportunities for learning and improvement. This commentary discusses the AHRQ 2022 report entitled Diagnostic Errors in the Emergency Department: a Systematic Review and suggests a focus on care delivery processes over individuals, definitions, error rate review, and system design as noteworthy approaches to error reduction.

… such as delays in access or diagnosis. … Averill P, Vincent C, Reen G, et al. Conceptual and practical challenges …

The role of healthcare disparities in patient safety is an emerging priority. This article summarizes disparities in preventable harm and outlines solutions to reducing inequalities in patient safety at the individual-, leadership-, and system-levels, such as identifying clear chains of accountability for adverse events and improving incident measurement and analysis specific to marginalized patient groups.

The COVID pandemic has increased demand and acceptance of remote care modalities. This commentary suggests that home monitoring is a promising telehealth approach and that its application could improve value while enhancing safety for hospital-at-home and other levels of home-based care patients.

… Int J Qual Health Care … Leadership engagement is key to … for practical action are described. … Amalberti R, Staines A, Vincent C. Embracing multiple aims in healthcare improvement …

Despite the introduction of computerized provider order entry into electronic health records, providers still frequently use free-text fields to communicate important information which introduces a patient safety risk. One healthcare system searched allergy-related free-text fields, identifying more than 242,000 entries. Approximately 131,000 were manually or automatically remediated (e.g., “latex from back brace” and “gloves” were coded “latex-natural rubber”).

… greater power and is methodologically sound. … Ciapponi A, Fernandez Nievas SE, Seijo M, et al. Reducing medication …

Previous studies have used virtual patient cases to help trainees and practicing physicians improve diagnostic accuracy. Using virtual patients, this study found that brief lectures combined with 9 hours of supervised deliberate practice improved the ability of medical interns to correctly diagnose dizziness.

… as one key component of good quality care. … Hannawa AF, Wu AW, Kolyada A, et al. The aspects of healthcare quality that are … study. Patient Educ Couns. Epub 2021 Oct 30. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2021.10.016 …

Building on prior research on missed myocardial infarction, this study used the SPADE approach to identify delays in sepsis diagnosis. Using claims data, researchers used a ‘look back’ analysis to identify treat-and-release emergency department (ED) visits in the month prior to sepsis hospitalizations and identify common diagnoses linked to downstream sepsis hospitalizations.

… online open courses (MOOCs) have the ability to reach a broad audience of learners. The Science of Safety in … learning format. … Gleason KT, Commodore-Mensah Y, Wu AW, et al. Massive open online course (MOOC) learning … study. Nurse Educ Today. 2021;104:104984. doi: 10.1016/j.nedt.2021.104984. …

… data have potential to impact health care improvement in a variety of ways. This commentary examines the intersection … in at-risk patient populations if adopted. … Ibrahim SA, Pronovost PJ. Diagnostic errors, health disparities, and artificial intelligence: a combination for health or harm?  JAMA Health Forum. …

… J Am Med Inform Assoc … Clinical decision support systems are … research. … Morris AH, Stagg B, Lanspa M, et al. Enabling a learning healthcare system with automated computer … produce replicable and personalized clinician actions. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2021;28(6):1330-1344. …

A missed or delayed diagnosis of stroke increases the risk of permanent disability or death. This retrospective study compared rates of misdiagnosed stroke in patients presenting to general care or specialty care who were initially diagnosed with “benign dizziness”. Patients with dizziness who presented to general care were more likely to be misdiagnosed than those presenting to specialty care. Interventions to improve stroke diagnosis in emergency departments may also be successful in general care clinics.

… J Patient Saf Risk Manag … The July effect is a phenomenon that presumably results in poor care due to the … these practitioners to provide the safest care possible. … Wu AW, Vincent C, Shapiro DW, et al. Mitigating the July effect. J …