High Levels of Diagnosis Errors in UK Preventable
The findings have been produced from an analysis of all international research papers published so far relating to medical adverse events from six countries - the UK, The United States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Denmark. All studies investigated medical adverse events among inpatients and involved retrospective analysis of medical records.
This brand new analysis summarises the statistics for adverse medical event rates, ranging from 3.8% for The United States, which showed the lowest error rates, to 11.3% for New Zealand. The UK ranked second highest with 10.8%, with a marginally higher error rate than Australia (10.6 %). Some of these differences may be attributed to differences in the definition of medical adverse events applied in various studies. Almost 50% of the UK's adverse events identified were considered highly preventable.
Other key research findings include:
-- Overall, between 12% and 15% of adverse medical events were directly related to diagnosis error
-- Between a third and a half of all non-operative adverse medical events were related to medications. Only 20-50% of these were judged preventable
-- In the UK study, of the proportion of medical errors that were highly preventable, 50% of medication errors were considered preventable, and 100% of diagnosis errors were preventable
Medical Protection Society (MPS) statistics show that GPs claims have doubled since 1994 and are currently running at around 500 a year. The MPS anticipates that 36 out of every 1,000 GP members will be sued as a result of work they have done in the last 12 months.
The rising importance of the negative impact of misdiagnosis is illustrated in one of the largest ever studies on this subject in the UK undertaken by Dr Nicholas Silk, who investigated 1,000 consecutive medical and surgical negligence claims against GPs. In 63% of these cases (631/1000), there was a failure or a delay in the correct diagnosis.
Dr Joseph Britto, Medical Director at Isabel Healthcare argues: "It is worth bearing in mind that litigation cases represent only the tip of the iceberg regarding the challenge faced by the NHS concerning misdiagnosis. Clinicians must embrace support mechanisms at the point of diagnosis, if only as a safety check, so that highly preventable adverse events do not occur during diagnosis."
Evidence suggests that it is relatively easy to prevent medication errors by the implementation of CPOE (computerised physician order entry) systems. Diagnosis errors (a number of which are primarily clinical judgement errors) resulting from errors of omission are difficult to identify in retrospective studies. They are also difficult to address in clinical practice, since practical and easy to use computerised solutions to minimise diagnosis errors of omission have not been made available before.
Dr Ramnarayan, research and product development director at Isabel Healthcare Ltd argues: 'Through this research, we now have evidence to suggest that diagnosis mistakes that affect the public are common, especially in primary care and emergency departments. We did not previously have access to tools that could help clinicians reduce these preventable events.
With resources now available such as Isabel Healthcare's clinical decision support system - which in clinical trials has demonstrated the potential to reduce the rate of diagnosis omission errors - there is no excuse for such a significant level of adverse events to occur.'
About Isabel Healthcare Ltd
Isabel Healthcare is a global leader in diagnosis reminder systems for clinicians. Isabel is an award-winning, clinical decision support system. Its unique feature is a diagnosis reminder system, which instantly gives the clinician a checklist of likely diagnoses for a patient's condition.
Using the same proprietary technology, which powers the diagnosis reminder tool, Isabel mobilises knowledge to help clinicians find relevant and specific answers to clinical questions quickly and easily.
Isabel integrates knowledge from respected medical textbooks, annotated images and journal abstracts categorized into 'What's New' and 'Lessons Learnt from Error,' which are linked together through comprehensive diagnosis taxonomy. It has undergone robust, peer-reviewed validation process to demonstrate its accuracy and efficacy.
The Isabel Healthcare Ltd customer base includes hospitals in the UK, USA and India. It currently has offices in London, Texas, Maryland, Utah, San Diego and India.
For more information on Isabel Healthcare Ltd, or to speak with a member of the Isabel Team, please contact Blaise Hammond / Dan Alder / Kate Lawson on Tel: 020 8956 2653/2713 or email:
Kate Lawson
kate@fusepr
Client Executive
Fuse PR - Small Consultancy of the Year Finalist, PR Week
500 Chiswick High Road
London W4 5RG
Tel: + 44 (0)20 8956 2713
http://www.fusepr.com
Niveluri ridicate de Diagnostic Erori în Regatul Unit prevenite - High Levels of Diagnosis Errors in UK Preventable - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate