Physician Perspectives SurveyMeasuring physician attitudes on

diagnostic error and accuracy

Conducted by

Best Doctors

Respondents by Specialty

Allergy and Im

munology

Anesthesio

logy

Child Neuro

logy

Clinica

l Genetics

Colon and Rectal S

urgery

Diagnostic R

adiology

Endocrinology and M

etabolism

Gastroentero

logy

Medical O

ncology and Hematology

Neurologica

l Surgery

None

Obstetri

cs and Gyneco

logy

Orthopaedic S

urgery

Otolaryngology

Physical M

edicine and Rehabilit

ation

Pulmonary M

edicine

Rheumatology

Thoracic and Card

iac Surgery

Vascular S

urgery0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

26%

45%

26%

3%

An extremely important problem

An important problem

Somewhat of a problem

Not at all a problem

Relative to the many other types of adverse patient outcomes, where would you rank misdiagnosis (a diagnosis that is wrong,

missed, or could have been made much earlier)?

(341)

(606)

(349)

(37)

n: 1333

20%

7%

34%

38%

Almost never

At least weekly

About once a month

About once a year

In your own practice, how often would you estimate misdiagnoses occur?

(276)

(100)

(457)

(520)

n: 1353

35%

16%

30%

19%

Fragmented or missing informa-tion across medical information systems

Inadequate diagnostic resources (e.g. laboratory, radiology, pathology, testing)

Inadequate time for patient evaluation

Incomplete or inaccurate medical history provided by the patient

Of the choices below, which would you say is the most significant barrier to improving diagnostic accuracy?

(476)

(210)

(410)

(253)

n: 1349

25%

17%

10%

30%

17%

Confidential reporting/data-sharing on mis-diagnosis as part of hospital accreditation

Establishing a national, voluntary misdiag-nosis reporting system

Having a local champion that would en-courage reporting

Incentives for hospitals from state and federal lawmakers to participate in confidential mis-diagnosis data gathering and reporting

Increasing the number of national events and conferences devoted to misdiagnosis

Which action below would you say would MOST encourage reporting of diagnostic errors?

(342)

(236)

(142)

(403)

(230)

n: 1353

Computer-based diagnostic support tools (eg. Up-to-Date or online tools to help with differential diagnosis like Isabel or DXplain)

Development of a secure online environment for collaboration with peers on challenging cases

Education about commonly misdiagnosed conditions in my specialty

Having easier access to specialist consultants

Providing clear diagnostic algorithms for critical conditions

Establishment of a leadership board to monitor and implement system changes to improve diagnosis

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Which of the following steps would be useful in improving diagnosis in your practice or hospital (choose all that apply)?

(263)

(501)

(278)

(923)

(418)

(369)

n: 2752