Cognition & Clinical Reasoning-Cognition & Clinical Reasoning Video

Video Transcription

Video Summary

This transcript is from a comprehensive session that centers on diagnostic errors in healthcare, led by Dr. Mark Graber and Dr. Helen Burstyn. Dr. Graber introduces the session by outlining four myths surrounding diagnostic errors: that it won't happen to me, they don't happen in our hospital, they are too hard to understand, and there's nothing we can do about it. He challenges these myths by discussing the prevalence and consequences of diagnostic errors, mentioning that fewer than 1% of hospitals in the U.S. actively address this issue.<br /><br />The discussion highlights the lack of emphasis on diagnostic errors in major patient safety literature and standards, as well as the limited number of NIH grants and studies dedicated to this field. Dr. Graber emphasizes the systemic and cognitive factors contributing to diagnostic errors, highlighting the complexity of diagnosis as a cognitive task influenced by various healthcare system challenges.<br /><br />Moreover, the session explores potential solutions, including increased utilization of decision-support systems, fostering learning from diagnostic failures, improving interprofessional education, and promoting patient engagement. The speakers note the difficulties in measuring diagnostic errors and discuss how existing data demonstrates disproportionately high diagnostic error rates in various healthcare contexts, particularly impacting marginalized populations.<br /><br />Scholars raise questions about the potential cultural barriers when engaging patients as partners in their care and the systemic nature of errors and diagnosis. The importance of continuous feedback, equity, and the leveraging of digital health tools like telehealth to improve outcomes and patient engagement are recognized as key factors moving forward. Overall, the transcript underscores the complexity of addressing diagnostic error and the collaborative efforts necessary to improve patient safety and care quality.

Keywords

diagnostic errors

healthcare

Dr. Mark Graber

Dr. Helen Burstyn

cognitive factors

systemic factors

patient safety

decision-support systems

interprofessional education

patient engagement

telehealth

marginalized populations