Roadmap for Research to Improve Diagnosis - Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Policy Roadmap for Research to Improve Diagnosis

The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM)'s 2018 white paper, SIDM Roadmap for Research to Improve Diagnosis – Converting National Academy of Medicine Recommendations into Policy Action, showcases the vital need for increased research funding devoted to improving diagnosis. The Roadmap includes a three-pronged approach for policymakers to take to support and facilitate research that will lead to tangible increases in accurate and timely diagnosis: 1.) Establish and fund Research Centers of Diagnostic Excellence, 2.) Support and fund diagnostic fellowship training programs and 3.)Develop and validate operationally viable measures.

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Executive Summary

According to the National Academy of Medicine's quality report, diagnostic errors represent a major public health problem likely to affect every one of us at least once in our lifetime.

Tackling the Big Three

Studies consistently find that roughly 50-80% of the serious harms resulting from missed or delayed diagnoses are linked to one of three key disease categories: vascular events, infections, and cancers.

Return on Investment

The projected net benefits of facilitating research to improve diagnosis are enormous. Learn about the short, intermediate, and long term impact.

Politicans discussing issues in healthcare

Public Health Imperative

A critical area of patient safety, healthcare quality, and cost savings that has not been adequately addressed by the healthcare sector is the issue of reducing diagnostic errors.

Doctors and policy makers discussing diagnosis

The Path Forward

Learn more about the foundational need to facilitate and catalyze research towards solutions, including the need to establish valid operational measures of diagnostic error.

Policy Action

The diagnostic research pipeline is “leaky” with major gaps, so cross-agency coordination is essential. Policymakers can help by raising awareness of diagnostic errors as a priority topic.

Acknowledgements

This Roadmap was authored by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM). The combined SIDM and Coalition to Improve Diagnosis Policy Committee members involved in drafting and finalizing this document in 2017-2018 are listed below, with their institutional affiliations.

Preparation of the document was supported, in part, by funding from the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation and the Mont Fund. We gratefully acknowledge their support as well as the generosity of committee members who volunteered their time and effort.

Policy Committee Roster (as of February 7, 2018)

David E. Newman-Toker, MD PhD (Chair), President-Elect, Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, Director, Armstrong Institute Center for Diagnostic Excellence, Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Leslie Tucker (Co-Chair), Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Robert Berenson, MD, Urban Institute Helen Burstin, MD MPH, Council of Medical Specialty Societies

Melissa Danforth, The Leapfrog Group Tom Granatir, American Board of Medical Specialties

Helen Haskell, Mothers Against Medical Error

Allen B. Kachalia, MD JD, Chief Quality Officer, Brigham Health, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Kathryn McDonald, Stanford University

P. Divya Parikh, MPH, Vice President of Research & Risk Management, PIAA

Scott Reber, US House of Representatives Kristen Reek, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Suzanne Resnick, American Board of Medical Specialties

Susan Sheridan, Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine

Michael Stinson, JM, Vice President of Government Relations & Public Policy, PIAA

Divvy Upadhyay, MD, Geisinger Medical Center

Elham A. Yousef, MD, MSC, FACP, FHM, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cleveland Clinic Learner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Staff, Department of Hospital Medicine, Medicine Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation

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