More than a dozen major medical societies and healthcare organizations, including patient and consumer advocates and government partners, have joined forces to address diagnostic errors in medicine, through the newly formed Coalition to Improve Diagnosis.
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) established and will lead the Coalition. The Coalition’s founding member organizations represent clinicians and other healthcare professionals, patients and families, employers, consumer advocates, researchers, policymakers, and educators. Errors in diagnosis affect one in 20 patients, an estimated 12 million Americans each year, the group says.
“Physicians excel at diagnosis, but errors or delays in reaching the right diagnosis still create harm, and we can do better,” says Mark L. Graber, MD, FACP, president and founder, of SIDM. “The vision of our Society, SIDM, is to ensure that diagnosis is accurate, timely, and efficient. The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis will be the catalyst for changes in practice needed to realize this vision.”
Coalition members include the following groups:
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American Society for Healthcare Risk Management;
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American Association of Nurse Practitioners;
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American Board of Internal Medicine;
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American Board of Medical Specialties;
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American College of Emergency Physicians;
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American College of Physicians.
More information on the Coalition is on the group’s website at http://www.improvediagnosis.org/?page=CID.
