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The PSNet Collection: All Content

The AHRQ PSNet Collection comprises an extensive selection of resources relevant to the patient safety community. These resources come in a variety of formats, including literature, research, tools, and Web sites. Resources are identified using the National Library of Medicine’s Medline database, various news and content aggregators, and the expertise of the AHRQ PSNet editorial and technical teams.

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Displaying 1 - 20 of 164 Results
Meyer AND, Giardina TD, Khawaja L, et al. Patient Educ Couns. 2021;104:2606-2615.
Diagnostic uncertainty can lead to misdiagnosis and delayed treatment. This article provides an overview of the literature on diagnosis-related uncertainty, where uncertainty occurs in the diagnostic process and outlines recommendations for managing diagnostic uncertainty.
van der Zanden M, de Kok L, Nelen WLDM, et al. Diagnosis (Berl). 2021;8:333-339.
Endometriosis is a common clinical condition that is often subject to missed or delayed diagnosis. This qualitative study explored patients’ perspectives on the diagnostic process of endometriosis. Findings suggest that the diagnosis of endometriosis is hindered by delayed consultation, inadequate understanding and appraisal of symptoms by general practitioners, and inadequate communication between patients and providers.
Curated Libraries
September 13, 2021
Ensuring maternal safety is a patient safety priority. This library reflects a curated selection of PSNet content focused on improving maternal safety. Included resources explore strategies with the potential to improve maternal care delivery and outcomes, such as high reliability, collaborative initiatives, teamwork, and trigger tools.
WebM&M Case June 30, 2021

Beginning in her teenage years, a woman began "feeling woozy" after high school gym class. The symptoms were abrupt in onset, lasted between 5 to 15 minutes and then subsided after sitting down. Similar episodes occurred occasionally over the following decade, usually related to stress. When she was in her 30s, she experienced a more severe episode of palpitations and went to the emergency department (ED). An electrocardiogram (ECG) was normal and she was discharged with a diagnosis of stress or possible panic attack.

Constellation, Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. 

The processes supporting safe and accurate diagnosis involve many steps that are prone to human error. This collaborative will engage teams to explore test result management and follow-up coordination to improve timeliness, collaboration, and communication to support safe care. The launch of the collaborative has been delayed due to COVID-19.
Hensgens RL, El Moumni M, IJpma FFA, et al. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2020;46:1367-1374.
Missed injuries and delayed diagnoses are an ongoing problem in trauma care. This cohort study conducted at a large trauma center found that inter-hospital transfer of severely injured patients increases the risk of delayed detection of injuries. For half of these patients, the new diagnoses led to a change in treatment course. These findings highlight the importance of clinician vigilance when assessing trauma patients.
Bhat A, Mahajan V, Wolfe N. J Clin Neurosci. 2021;85:27-35.
Misdiagnosis, variation in treatment of stroke and gaps in secondary prevention in young patients can result in adverse outcomes. This article discusses the possible causes of implicit bias in stroke care in this population, the effects of bias on patient outcomes, and interventions to circumvent implicit bias.  
Ricci-Cabello I, Gangannagaripalli J, Mounce LTA, et al. J Patient Saf. 2021;17:e20-e27.
Patient safety in primary care is an emerging focus. This cross-sectional study across primary care clinics in England explored the main factors contributing to patient-reported harm experiences. Factors included incidents related to communication, care coordination, and incorrect or delayed; diagnosis and/or treatment.
WebM&M Case December 23, 2020

After a breast mass was identified by a physician assistant during a routine visit, a 60-year-old woman received a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound. The radiology assessment was challenging due to dense breast tissue and ultimately interpreted as “probably benign” findings. When the patient returned for follow-up 5 months later, the mass had increased in size and she was referred for a biopsy.

WebM&M Case November 25, 2020

After a failed induction at 36 weeks, a 26-year-old woman underwent cesarean delivery which was complicated by significant postpartum hemorrhage. The next day, the patient complained of severe perineal and abdominal pain, which the obstetric team attributed to prolonged pushing during labor. The team was primarily concerned about hypotension, which was thought to be due to hypovolemia from peri-operative blood loss. After several hours, the patient was transferred to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) with persistent hypotension and severe abdominal and perineal pain. She underwent surge

Zolnikov T, Zolnikov TR. J Prim Care Community Health. 2020;11:215013272095986.
This commentary describes the challenges of traditional approaches to differential diagnosis during the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors suggest the use of a “bottom-up” approach to diagnosis, which first eliminates the rare and/or serious diagnoses before moving on to more common diagnoses, thereby ensuring that all patients are screened for more serious diseases and improving timely diagnosis.     
Schiff G, Mirica MM. Diagnosis (Berl). 2020;7:377-380.
This commentary discuses key issues related to diagnostic accuracy in the era of COVID-19, including considering differential diagnoses for COVID-19, the challenges of remote diagnoses, and the consequences of lapses in routine diagnostic and preventive care.
WebM&M Case July 29, 2020

A 52-year-old woman with a known history of coronary artery disease and ischemic cardiomyopathy was admitted for presumed community-acquired pneumonia. The inpatient medicine team obtained a “curbside” cardiology consultation which concluded that the worsening left ventricular systolic functioning was in the setting of acute pulmonary edema. Two months post-discharge, a nuclear stress test was suggestive of infarction and a subsequent catheterization showed a 100% occlusion.

Bell SK, Delbanco T, Elmore JG, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3:e205867.
This study surveyed over 22,800 patients across three health care organizations to assess how often patients who read open ambulatory visit notes perceive mistakes in the notes. The analysis found that 4,830 patients (21%) perceived a mistake in one or more notes in the past 12 months and that 42% of those patients considered the mistake to be somewhat or very serious. The most common very serious mistakes involved incorrect diagnoses; medical history; allergy or medication; or tests, procedures, or results. Older and sicker patients were more likely to report a serious error compared to younger and healthier patients. Using open notes and encouraging patient engagement can improve record accuracy and prevent medical errors
WebM&M Case June 24, 2020
Endometriosis is a common clinical condition that is often subject to missed or delayed diagnosis. In this case, a mixture of shortcomings in clinicians’ understanding of the disease, diagnostic biases, and the failure to validate a young woman’s complaints resulted in a 12-year diagnostic delay and significant physical and psychologic morbidity.
Restrepo D, Armstrong KA, Metlay JP. Ann Intern Med. 2020;172:747-751.
Using two case examples, this article discusses how the influences of cognitive biases in clinical decision-making contribute to diagnostic error and steps in the diagnostic process to avoid such errors, including using diagnostic checklists, conferring with teammates or peers, and continuously reassessing treatment response.
Sacco AY, Self QR, Worswick EL, et al. J Patient Saf. 2021;17:e1759-e1773.
Using the IOM definition of diagnostic error, this study interviewed hospitalized adults to characterize their experiences with diagnostic errors and their perspectives on causes, impacts and prevention strategies. Nearly 40% of patients interviewed reported at least one diagnostic error in the past 5 years that adversely impacted their emotional and physical well-being. Qualitative analysis revealed five main themes underlying the causes of diagnostic error: problems with clinical evaluation, limited time with clinicians, poor communication between clinicians and patients or between clinicians, and systems failures. Suggested strategies to reduce diagnostic error included improvements to clinical management, increase patient access to clinicians, communication improvements between patients and clinicians and between clinicians, and self-advocacy by patients.