A variety of diagnostic errors for common diseases is missed in primary care, according to a study by Hardeep Singh, MD, from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and colleagues in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Nearly 4 out of 5 of the errors were caused by breakdowns in the patient encounters—largely because physicians were pressed for time—and had the potential to cause moderate to severe harm. The authors analyzed 190 primary care diagnostic errors in 2006 and 2007 in two large hospitals. The most commonly missed diagnoses were pneumonia, congestive heart failure, acute renal failure, and primary cancer.
