Certainly, it is terrible to be diagnosed with a serious illness. Even worse? Having a serious illness that doctors misdiagnose, leading to delays in treatment, and potential worsening of your health. Conversely, a misdiagnosis can lead to you receiving unneeded treatments, possibly introducing medication and treatment side effects. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of diagnostic error.

What exactly is a misdiagnosis and how common is it?

Diagnostic errors include missed, incorrect or delayed diagnoses. Research shows diagnostic error rates of diagnostic error rates of 10-15%, causing about causing about 10% of patient deaths.

How do doctors diagnose patients?

Diagnosing an illness can be tricky because doctors must use their judgment and experience, along with test results, to determine possible causes of ailments. Every patient is different and symptoms can vary. Additionally, as time passes and more information becomes available (through testing, etc) the diagnosis can change.

Experts say a good diagnosis requires “communication, openness, humility, and teamwork — with the patient as a key member of the team.” However, this process can be hampered by timid patients, doctors interrupting patients and rushed appointments.

What causes diagnostic errors?

One study of diagnoses provides insight into all the ways the diagnostic process can breakdown. Researchers analyzed diagnoses provided during primary care visits at a large VA facility and found that 80% of diagnostic errors were due to process breakdowns in 5 areas:

Patient-doctor appointment issues, related to:

Patient history
Physical exam
Ordering diagnostic tests

Diagnostic test issues:

Tests not performed
Incorrectly performed tests
Tests interpreted incorrectly

Follow-up issues:

Doctors not following-up to learn of abnormal diagnostic test results
Lack of scheduling follow-up visits with the patient, after abnormal results

Referrals issues:

Lack of appropriate actions from follow-up appointments with other physicians
Communication breakdown between doctors

Patient issues:

Delay in seeking care
Non-adherence to treatments and medications
Not following doctor’s advice
Not attending doctor’s appointments

Confident doesn’t equal correct.

Importantly, don’t let a doctor’s confidence give you a false sense of security about a diagnosis.

Doctors, like all humans, tend to make assumptions and stick to them. Diagnostic error expert Mark Graber, MD, said “clinicians often make the wrong diagnosis when they’re absolutely certain they’re right — and this happens often too quickly, upon seeing the patient and barely getting started with an exam.” Certainly, doctors are likely to base a diagnosis on seemingly similar cases they have treated before. However, research shows that being confident is not a reliable indicator of whether a diagnosis is correct. Simply put – just because your doctor seems confident doesn’t mean he/she is right!

Additionally, another team of researchers found that confident doctors make diagnostic errors. These researchers asked doctors to diagnose 4 cases – 2 easy and 2 more complicated. Although the doctors only correctly diagnosed 5.8% of the difficult cases presented, their confidence in their diagnoses was high. Importantly, doctors who feel confident in their diagnosis may inhibit further consideration. For example, they may be less likely to deliberate further, order additional testing, refer the patient to specialists, and use reference materials for research. And, they may discourage patients from getting a 2nd opinion.

Additionally, doctors often mistakenly believe they won’t make a diagnostic error. Furthermore, many believe diagnosis errors usually involve rare diseases, which is not always the case.