McDonald answers 5 questions about diagnostic errors

CDC generic diagnosis

Most Americans will get at least one faulty diagnosis in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. “Urgent change is warranted to address this challenge,” according to a recent landmark report from the Institute of Medicine.

The September report, by a committee of medical experts, found that despite dramatic improvements in patient safety over the last 15 years, diagnostic errors have been the critical blind spot of health-care providers.

Kathryn McDonald, executive director of Stanford’s Center for Health Policy/Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, is a member of the committee that wrote the report, “Improving Diagnosis in Health Care.”

We ask McDonald Five Questions about the report’s findings and also got her suggestions for limiting one of the most overlooked health-care dilemmas today. You can read her responses here on the Stanford Medicine news center website.

Read more here about the report when it came out last month.