How this Japan hospital cut diagnostic errors

By Wolters Kluwer

A decision-making software was key to cutting errors that doctors made at point of care.

A new study in Japan has found that technology can help to dramatically reduce the rate of errors in doctors diagnosing patients.

Physicians who used a decision-making software by healthcare information services provider Wolters Kluwer had a much lower rate of diagnostic errors, compared with a control group not using UpToDate - 2% versus 24%.

“Diagnostic errors are common. Up to one in 10 diagnoses are incorrect and up to one in three people have experienced a diagnostic error,” notes Peter Bonis, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Clinical Effectiveness, Wolters Kluwer, Health.

The work was conducted at the Tokyo Jōtō Hospital, a community-based hospital in Japan. This study comes after researchers at Johns Hopkins estimated in a 2016 study that medical errors should rank as the third leading cause of US deaths.

To learn more about how technology can help your clinicians reduce diagnostic errors at point of care, download the report by filling out the form below.