Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1273352
16 PATIENT SAFETY 8 COVID-19- related diagnostic errors to know By Mackenzie Bean T he COVID-19 pandemic could increase the risk of diagnostic errors due to staffing shortages, chaotic work environments and high levels of clinician stress and fatigue, two healthcare quality experts wrote in an article published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine. e article's authors are: • Tejal Gandhi, MD, chief safety and transfor- mation officer at Press Ganey • Hardeep Singh, MD, chief of health policy, quality and informatics at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston Drs. Gandhi and Singh identified eight diag- nostic errors that may occur in the COVID-19 era based on emerging research and discussions with experts worldwide. e errors are defined below. 1. Classic: Missed or delayed COVID-19 diag- nosis in patients with respiratory symptoms. 2. Anomalous: Missed or delayed COVID-19 diagnosis in patients who do not have respirato- ry symptoms. 3. Anchor: Missed or delayed diagnosis of a different condition because clinicians assume the patient has COVID-19. 4. Secondary: Missed or delayed diagnosis of a secondary condition in a patient being treated for COVID-19. 5. Acute collateral: Delayed diagnosis of an acute condition because patients are not seeking care due to fear of contracting COVID-19 in a hospital or emergency department. 6. Chronic collateral: Delayed diagnosis of ambulatory conditions due to canceled appoint- ments or elective procedures. 7. Strain: Missed or delayed diagnosis of a different condition because hospitals are overwhelmed, potentially limiting the time and attention clinicians spend on non-COVID-19 patients. 8. Unintended: Missed or delayed diagnosis because clinicians are using telemedicine more instead of interacting with patients in person. n 10% drop in ER volume significantly cuts patient death rates, study finds By Mackenzie Bean I f hospitals are able to lower the number of emergency room patients by just 10 percent, it could significantly lower patients' risk of death, a study published in the Journal of Health Economics found. Lindsey Woodworth, PhD, an assistant professor in economics at the Uni- versity of South Carolina in Columbia, found that the opening of a new emergency room cut patient volume at existing facilities by an average of 10 percent. This drop was linked to a 24 percent decrease in mortality rates over 30 days and a 17 percent decline over six months. Dr. Woodworth said the decrease may be due to fewer people leaving the ER against medical advice when faced with long wait times. She also found that a 10 percent drop in ER volume led to a 51 percent decrease in patients walking out without seeking care. For her study, Dr. Woodworth examined death records and hospital administrative data from seven EDs in South Carolina, each of which had a new emergency room open in the same vicinity between 2004 and 2010, according to The Wall Street Journal. Staffing levels and the types of patients being treated at each facility did not significantly change after crowding decreased at the existing facilities. n NCH Healthcare drops lawsuit against Leapfrog over 'D' grade By Gabrielle Masson N aples, Fla.-based NCH Healthcare System plans to drop its lawsuit against the Leapfrog Group, according to Fox affiliate WFTX-TV. The Leapfrog Group released its 2019 Hospital Safety Grades Nov. 7, assigning "A" through "F" letter grades for patient safety performance to hospitals voluntarily participating in the survey. Both NCH North Naples and Naples-based NCH Baker Hospital received a "D" grade. NCH Healthcare filed a lawsuit in the fall of 2019 against Leapfrog over the grades. The healthcare system said it didn't participate in the Leapfrog Group survey in the last year and consequently received a low grade. NCH said the grades were "false and misleading," according to court documents cited by WINK News. "We are happy to put the past behind us with the dismissal of this law- suit and focus on improving the patient experience," said NCH President and CEO Paul Hiltz. "Quality patient care has always been, and always will be, our first and foremost priority." The NCH hospitals "recently showed improvement in safety," Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, told Becker's in an emailed statement, adding that Leapfrog looks forward to the system's future progress and wishes "the very best of health to NCH and the Naples community." n