Deadline Extended to May 19 for Responses to Survey About Diagnostic Safety Tools

The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis (CID) has extended the deadline until May 19 for survey responses to identify effective tools or interventions to improve diagnostic performance or reduce harm associated with diagnostic error. AHRQ, which has been a government partner of the coalition since 2015, hosted a summit on diagnostic safety in 2016 and is continuing to fund research on the topic. CID is comprised of more than 20 professional societies and was established to bring awareness, attention and action to the problem of diagnostic error. The CID survey asks for input on existing tools to improve diagnosis in health care.

The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis

The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis, made up of leading healthcare organizations, has been established to bring awareness, attention, and action to the problem of diagnostic error.

Why We Exist

Diagnosis, which by its very nature involves uncertainty, is one of the most difficult and complex tasks in healthcare, involving both human and systematic elements, and is made more difficult by an explosive growth in knowledge and tools that are both helpful and problematic. Errors in diagnosis effect one in 20 patients annually, an estimated 12 million Americans each year. “Physicians excel at diagnosis, but errors or delays in reaching the right diagnosis still create harm, and we can do better,” says Mark L. Graber, MD, FACP, president and founder of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine.

Who We Are

The Coalition to Improve Diagnosis is made up of many of the most prestigious organizations in the medical and patient community and currently includes the following organizations. (Steering Committee members are denoted with an asterisk)

ABIM Foundation*
Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM)
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Association of Nurse Practitioners*
American Board of Internal Medicine*
American Board of Medical Specialties*
American College of Emergency Physicians*
American College of Physicians*
American Society for Healthcare Risk Management*
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of Clinical Scientists
Consumers Advancing Patient Safety*
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Intermountain Healthcare
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Kaiser Permanente
The Leapfrog Group*
Maryland Patient Safety Center
Massachusetts Coalition for the Prevention of Medical Errors
Midwest Alliance for Patient Safety
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Partnership for Women and Families*
National Patient Safety Foundation*
National Quality Forum
Penn State Health (Hershey Medical Center)
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority
Society of Hospital Medicine
Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine*
Veterans Health Administration

Also supporting the Coalition and its members are government partners:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

What We Do

The first job of the Coalition is to bring much-needed attention to the issue of improving diagnosis. “It is an essential step in improving the quality of care patients receive and in reducing harm that can result from diagnoses that are inaccurate, missed or inappropriately delayed.” says Paul Epner, MBA, MEd, chair of the Coalition and executive vice president of the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine.

Organizational members have committed to take measurable action to improve diagnosis through the collective actions of the Coalition as well as opportunities available to and led by each member organization.

Getting Involved

Improving diagnosis is on the leading edge of advancing patient care. If you or your organization would like to support the Coalition to Improve Diagnosis, or learn more about how you can get involved, please contact us at info@improvediagnosis.org.