A Scoping Review of Diagnostic Error: Executive Summary

Diagnostic error is difficult to define, because diagnosis is both a process and the outcome of that process. Furthermore, it is difficult to judge when the process is complete – a physician may have a working diagnosis that seems to be the most likely reason for a given set of symptoms, but often only time will tell if that diagnosis was correct or not. Was his or her original diagnosis wrong, or merely in process? The Institute of Medicine has proposed the following definition: diagnostic error is the failure to (a) establish an accurate and timely explanation of the patient’s health problem(s) or (b) communicate that explanation to the patient. This frames diagnostic error from a patient’s perspective, reflecting the fact that patients bear the greatest burden and risk of harm from misdiagnosis.