Background: While understanding the cognitive contributions to diagnosis has become important, few studies have aimed to understand physician diagnostic reasoning in real-time. Using a case-based approach, we sought to: (a) characterize differences in diagnostic reasoning among hospitalists; and (b) identify factors associated with diagnostic accuracy. Methods: A total of 10 hospital medicine attending physicians from [...]

Background: Diagnostic error in medicine is increasingly recognized as “the next frontier for patient safety”. Current research has explored the etiologies of diagnostic errors in two unique dimensions: as systems-based or cognitive-based causes. One study, however, suggests that roughly half of all errors stem from both domains. Using a focused ethnographic approach, we sought to [...]

Background: Mortality review committees are charged with identifying areas of potential improvement, with the goal of decreasing preventable death. This laudable aim is accompanied by secondary goals of interest to the organization like improving diagnostic error, fostering teamwork, optimizing information technology, or supporting other quality improvement efforts. At our institution, we developed an interdisciplinary mortality [...]