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Patient complaints can provide insights into safety threats and system weaknesses. This study used the healthcare complaints analysis tool (HCAT) to identify and categorize safety problems in emergency care. Most problems arose during examination/diagnosis and frequently resulted in diagnostic errors or errors of omission.

Misdiagnosis of child abuse has far-reaching implications. This commentary discusses the ethical tensions faced by pediatric radiologists of both over- and under-diagnosing child abuse. The author suggests ways that physicians and professional societies can partner with legal advocates to create a more balanced pool of experts to alleviate perceptions of bias and acknowledge harms of misdiagnosed child abuse.

Analysis of closed malpractice claims has been used to characterize safety hazards in a variety of clinical settings. This study used retrospective review of malpractice claims to examine the underlying causes of diagnostic error in the emergency department as well as identify potential systems solutions. The senior author of this study, Dr. Hardeep Singh, discussed the evolving diagnostic error field in a PSNet perspective.

This retrospective claims record review found that nearly one-third of all contributing factors may have been mitigated by using the SURPASS surgical checklist.