Improving Diagnosis in Health Care: Highlights of a Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Authors: John R. Ball, Erin Balogh
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Ideas and Opinions5 January 2016Improving Diagnosis in Health Care: Highlights of a Report From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicineJohn R. Ball, MD, JD and Erin Balogh, MPHJohn R. Ball, MD, JDFrom the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC. and Erin Balogh, MPHFrom the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M15-2256 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Fifteen years ago, in its landmark report, "To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System" (1), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) dramatically exposed the issue of patient safety in health care. Stating the obvious—that human beings make errors—but highlighting the theretofore rarely discussed fact that those of us in health care make errors, the report began a quiet revolution in the way health care organizations address safety and quality. "To Err Is Human" was followed shortly by a second report, "Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century" (2), which set a course to close ...References1. Institute of Medicine. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2000. Google Scholar2. Institute of Medicine. Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2001. Google Scholar3. National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academies Pr; 2015. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC.Disclaimer: The authors are responsible for the content of this article, which does not necessarily represent the views of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.Acknowledgment: The authors thank the members of the Committee on Diagnostic Error in Health Care: John Ball (Chair), Elizabeth Belmont, Robert Berenson, Pascale Carayon, Christine Cassel, Carolyn Clancy, Michael Cohen, Patrick Croskerry, Thomas Gallagher, Christine Goeschel, Mark Graber, Hedvig Hricak, Anupam Jena, Ashish Jha, Michael Laposata, Kathryn McDonald, Elizabeth McGlynn, Michelle Rogers, Urmimala Sarkar, George Thibault, and John Wong, as well as members of the Academies staff, directed by Erin Balogh.Financial Support: Dr. Ball received no funding for his participation in the study, which was funded by 10 sponsors (the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, American College of Radiology, American Society for Clinical Pathology, Cautious Patient Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, College of American Pathologists, The Doctors Company Foundation, Janet and Barry Lang, Kaiser Permanente National Community Benefit Fund at the East Bay Community Foundation, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) or in the preparation of this manuscript. Ms. Balogh was supported by the Academies, through funding provided by the sponsors.Disclosures: The authors have disclosed no conflicts of interest. Forms can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-2256.Corresponding Author: Erin Balogh, MPH, Board on Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine, 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC 20001; e-mail, [email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Ball: 26 Snow Shoe Drive; Asheville, NC 28803.Ms. Balogh: Board on Health Care Services, Institute of Medicine, 500 Fifth Street NW, Washington, DC 20001.Author Contributions: Conception and design: J. Ball, E. Balogh.Analysis and interpretation of the data: J. Ball, E. Balogh.Drafting of the article: J. Ball, E. Balogh.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: J. Ball.Final approval of the article: J. Ball, E. Balogh.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: J. Ball.Collection and assembly of data: J. Ball, E. Balogh.This article was published online first at www.annals.org on 29 September 2015. 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