Minimizing the Risk of Diagnostic Errors in Acute Care for Older Adults: An Interdisciplinary Patient Safety Challenge

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Minimizing the Risk of Diagnostic Errors in Acute Care for Older Adults: An Interdisciplinary Patient Safety Challenge
by Baker Nawfal Jawad 1,2,*ORCID,Kirstine Zink Pedersen 3ORCID,Ove Andersen 1,2,4ORCID andNinna Meier 5ORCID
1
Department of Clinical Research, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, Hvidovre, 2650 Copenhagen, Denmark
2
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
3
Department of Organization, Copenhagen Business School, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark
4
Emergency Department, Copenhagen University Hospital Amager and Hvidovre, 2650 Hvidovre, Denmark
5
Department of Sociology and Social Work, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Healthcare 2024, 12(18), 1842; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12181842
Submission received: 29 July 2024 / Revised: 5 September 2024 / Accepted: 9 September 2024 / Published: 13 September 2024
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Abstract
Modern healthcare systems are increasingly organized according to diagnosis-specific clinical pathways and treatment protocols. At the same time, the number of patients with complex problems and needs that do not fit the single-diagnosis approach is rising, contributing to a high prevalence of diagnostic errors. In this article, we focus on the risk of diagnostic errors arising from missed or incomplete diagnosis and assessment of older adult patients’ care needs in the first hours of acute hospitalizations in EDs. This focus is important for improving patient safety, as clinical decisions made in EDs impact patient safety in the subsequent steps of the process, thereby potentially causing new risks to arise. Based on our discussion of clinical decision-making and diagnostic errors in the acute care context, we propose a more comprehensive interdisciplinary approach to improvements in patient safety that integrates organizational and clinical research and examines where, when, how, and why risks to patient safety arise in and across different clinical–organizational contexts.