Background: Diagnostic errors have been cited as a potential contributor to hospital readmissions, particularly early readmissions (e.g. within 7 days), but little is known about their frequency and characteristics. We performed structured chart review of all medical patients readmitted within 7 days of discharge from a single academic medical center to describe the prevalence of [...]

Background: Diagnostic errors have been cited as a potential contributor to hospital readmissions, particularly early readmissions (e.g. within 7 days), but little is known about their frequency and characteristics. We performed structured chart review of all medical patients readmitted within 7 days of discharge from a single academic medical center to describe the prevalence of [...]

Background: Since 1951, medical television dramas have impacted how the public views, understands, and learns about the medical profession. Previous studies have examined how these shows depict topics such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation; other studies have shown that medical television dramas influence viewers’ perceptions of the healthcare profession. Our particular area of interest is that of [...]

Background: Since the publication of the Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human in 1999, preventable inpatient deaths in the United States have been estimated as between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths annually. A more recent review concluded that the number of preventable deaths was over 250,000 cases annually. Critics have pointed out that these [...]