Effect of contextual factors on the prevalence of diagnostic errors among patients managed by physicians of the same specialty: a single-centre retrospective observational study.
Harada Y, Otaka Y, Katsukura S, et al. Effect of contextual factors on the prevalence of diagnostic errors among patients managed by physicians of the same specialty: a single-centre retrospective observational study. BMJ Qual Saf. 2024;33(6):386-394. doi:10.1136/bmjqs-2022-015436.
Context, such as patient, clinician, location, or specialty, can affect the type and frequency of diagnostic errors. In this novel study, the diagnostic errors of a cohort of clinicians who practice in multiple locations (i.e., outpatient and emergency department) with different referral types (i.e., scheduled visit, urgent visit, emergency visit) was evaluated. Using the Revised Safer Dx instrument, researchers identified significantly more diagnostic errors in patients with scheduled visits compared to urgent or emergent referrals. The results indicate, that among clinicians in the same specialty, it may be contextual factors (i.e., referral type) that affect diagnostic errors rather than specialty.