Where Diagnosis Goes Wrong

By Brenda Goodman

In an analysis of 583 doctor-reported errors from 22 hospitals across the U.S., which was published in the November 9, 2009, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, Gordon D. Schiff, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and his co-authors found that diagnostic errors were most common in the testing phase. In fact, doctors failed to order, report or follow up on lab results an astounding 44 percent of the time.

Any time a doctor orders a lab test, X-ray, MRI or ultrasound, ask when you can expect to learn the results. If you don’t hear from the doctor’s office in a timely manner, call until you find out what the test determined. If the results raise concerns, make sure you are scheduled to see the doctor again for a follow-up appointment.