According to a March 27 press release, the Leapfrog Group released its “Recognizing Excellence in Diagnosis: Leapfrog’s National Pilot Survey Report.” The report analyzes responses from 95 hospitals on their implementation of recommended practices to address diagnostic errors, defined as delayed, wrong or missed diagnoses or diagnoses not effectively communicated to the patient or family.
The press release states, “The National Academy of Medicine has warned that virtually every American will suffer the consequences of a diagnostic error at least once in their lifetime and noted that 250,000 hospital inpatients will experience a diagnostic error every year.”
Further, “While progress varies considerably, more than 60% of hospitals responded that they were either already implementing or preparing to implement each of 29 evidence-based practices known to prevent harm from diagnostic error. The practices were identified in an earlier Leapfrog report, ‘Recognizing Excellence in Diagnosis: Recommended Practices for Hospitals.’ The hospitals reported barriers to putting the practices in place that include staffing shortages and budgetary pressure.”
Based on these results from the National Pilot Survey, Leapfrog included its first-ever questions on diagnostic excellence in the 2024 Leapfrog Hospital Survey that launched on April 1.
Leapfrog has the press release.
Janette Wider | Editor-in-Chief
Janette Wider is Editor-in-Chief for Healthcare Purchasing News.