Understanding how cognitive errors and biases can result in misdiagnoses and patient harm is the "new frontier" in patient safety.
Changes resulting from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) make it especially important for physicians to ensure patients receive continuity of care for acute and chronic conditions.
Missed diagnosis on radiologic studies is a common area of liability, with claims often alleging the patient wasn't informed of positive findings.
Successful malpractice suits are resulting from "anchoring," which is a cognitive error that occurs when a physician latches on to the first diagnosis that comes to mind.
New Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rules for justifying assigning inpatient status to a patient require physicians to document why inpatient admission is necessary and why they anticipate a stay of at least two consecutive midnights.
