In our previous post, we began speaking about diagnostic errors, noting that this category of errors is relatively resistant to improvement. Part of the reason for this, according to some experts, is that we do not have good ways to measure diagnostic errors, nor do we have well developed techniques for preventing them.
High incidence of preventable medical errors highlighted in recent study
Back in May, researchers from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine published a study which found that medical error is the third most common cause of death in the United States, following up heart disease and cancer. The study used data from previous research to estimate the medical error death rate at the national level based on hospital admissions in 2013.
