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Efforts to Reduce the Incidence of "Misdiagnosis"
Misdiagnoses are a leading cause of medical malpractice in the United States. Unfortunately, a misdiagnosis can lead to the death of a patient. Most patients don't seek out a second opinion when their doctor arrives at a diagnosis. However, it is important for patients to know that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with “devastating consequences,” according to a 2015 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
A recent Wall Street Journal article chronicles the efforts of hospitals and physicians to reduce the incidence of medical errors. Not surprisingly, many of the methods discussed in the article involve computer programs and artificial intelligence. Computers are able to hold a large amount of information and scan through medical records much faster than a human ever could.