Medical misdiagnosis describes the errors that occur when a medical professional examining a patient or a patient’s sample gives a wrong conclusion about the patient’s condition or fails to give a diagnosis at all. These errors can not only predispose the patient to further medical complications but can also lead to death. Studies conducted point out that misdiagnosis occurs in 28% of patients visiting health facilities. Although negligence has been implicated as the main cause of medical misdiagnosis, misdiagnosis in itself does not necessarily point out to the negligence of the medical professional. In making treatment determinations, the physician may often employ a system of differential diagnosis. This system involves making a list of the possible diagnoses based on the preliminary evaluations and in the order of their probabilities. The physician then uses further medical observation, laboratory tests, asking detailed questions and further consultations with colleagues and specialists to narrow down on the conclusive diagnosis. According to McKeen & Associates (2018), ascertaining the main cause of the misdiagnosis and determining whether it was out of negligence involves a critical evaluation of all the differential diagnosis methods employed in treatment determination.
In the course of the differential diagnosis, the physician uses the information uncovered to update the probable diagnostic list. Michon (2018) asserts that misdiagnosis might result from the failure of the physician to include the correct diagnosis on the diagnostic list. This means that the final diagnosis will certainly not be the supposedly correct diagnosis for the condition in question. Also, the physician might have included the correct diagnosis on the diagnostic list. The physician, however, prematurely expunges the correct diagnosis from the list due to the failure to investigate the viability of the diagnosis or the failure to seek opinions from colleagues and specialists.
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Erroneous results from laboratory tests or radiology scans also contribute to medical misdiagnoses. These inaccurate results might have resulted from the use of faulty equipment, expired or inappropriate reagents, human errors such as mixing of samples, incorrect reading or interpretation of the test results, missing slides or radiology films or use of an incorrect procedure. The diagnosing doctor relies on the test results to make an informed conclusion on the diagnosis and treatment. As such, inaccurate results lead the doctor into making an inaccurate diagnosis of the patient’s condition and thereby initiating the wrong treatment (Michon, 2018). For example, if the laboratory test results indicate that patient X is suffering from cerebral malaria, the doctor will proceed to initiate treatment for cerebral malaria. In the real sense, the patient has a brain tumor. This means that the brain tumor will be overlooked due to the inaccurate test results.
Other factors that might lead to misdiagnosis include the dynamism of patients visiting healthcare facilities. In most instances, patients visiting a health facility are not usually established patients at the facility and conversely, the resident physicians do not already have their medical history. Availability of a medical history may aid the physician in determining the health condition and patterns of the patients, thereby making a correct diagnosis. Increase in the number of patients a physician attends to also contributes to the cases of misdiagnoses. In the event, the physician is forced to rush to attend to many patients, reducing the doctor-patient time. An intricate condition that requires more in-depth evaluation may be overlooked. The increased amount of work means that the physician works long and strenuous hours. Fatigue impairs the physician’s judgment, and may also be the cause of misdiagnosis ( McKeen & Associates, 2018).
It is required that the misdiagnosis is detected early to prevent exacerbation of the overlooked condition and the complications ensuing from taking unnecessary medications. In some instances, the patients are forced to undergo surgeries that would have been avoided had the correct diagnosis been made. The failure of the physicians to follow up on the test results and the prognosis of their patients has been implicated as a cause of late identification of misdiagnosis. The patients’ recovery period is unnecessarily prolonged, while additional costs are incurred. It is reported that there is an average of 100,000 misdiagnosis cases annually, with an average death toll of 60,000 per year. According to Cerrato (2013), the cost per misdiagnosis claim is approximately $386,849. It is imperative to re-evaluate the initial measures taken in the initial diagnosis of a patient, in an effort to curtail the cases of misdiagnosis and improve the quality of patient care. Healthcare providers know that numerous cases of misdiagnosis taint their reputation. To maintain a good reputation, the cases of patient misdiagnosis should be kept at near zero.
References
Cerrato, P. (2013). Reducing the costs of misdiagnosis. Healthcare Finance. Retrieved from https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/reducing-costs-misdiagnosis
Firth, S. (2016). How a patient makes you feel may affect your diagnostic acumen. MedPage Today. Retrieved from https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/practicemanagement/57902
McKeen & Associates. (2018). Medical misdiagnosis: What are the causes? Retrieved from https://www.mckeenassociates.com/Articles/Medical-misdiagnosis-What-are-the-causes.shtml
Michon, K. (2018). Medical Malpractice: Misdiagnosis and Delayed Diagnosis. Nolo . Retrieved from
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/medical-malpractice-misdiagnosis-delayed-diagnosis-32288.html
