Safety Culture and Clinical Decision Support Software in Diagnostic Error Mitigation: Next Steps

Dec 15, 2015 Fifteen years after the To Err is Human report by the IOM we now understand the critical nature of safety culture and transparency to provide high quality care. The newest NAM report on diagnostic errors, Improving Diagnosis in Healthcare, brings new goals. We are now moving beyond the hospital and institutional setting into outpatient care. The adoption and implementation of safety culture with decision support software is crucial for effective diagnostic accuracy and data driven measures of value. The questions that need to be asked are; have your outpatient practice settings done just culture and safety culture surveys? Have the practices assessed open communication with patients, administrative staff, clinicians and managers to assure transparency. Have the practices benchmarked performance on identifying errors and near misses? True clinical decision support not just informational resources should be utilized. Outpatient services should employ best practices for establishing patient and referring clinician satisfaction. The next steps and challenges to insure success in diagnostic error mitigation in a value based reimbursement market are before us. The tools and resources to achieve success are at our disposal. Nicolas Argy, M.D., J.D.Health/Business Consultant/Educator, Patient Safety, Quality, Risk Management, Public Health Advocate, Witness Prep