Patient groups, clinicians and healthcare professionals agree – all test results need to be seen, understood and followed up
-
Maria R. Dahm
,
Andrew Georgiou
Abstract
Background
Diagnostic testing provides integral information for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of disease. Inadequate test result reporting and follow-up is a major risk to patient safety. Factors contributing to failure to follow-up test results include unclear delineation of responsibility about who is meant to act on a test result; poor coordination across different levels of care; and the absence of integrated health information systems for the efficient information communication.
Methods
A 2016 Australian Stakeholder Forum brought together over 30 representatives from 14 different consumer, clinical and management stakeholder organisations to discuss safe and effective test result communication, management and follow-up. Thematic analysis was conducted drawing on multimodal data collected in the form of observational fieldnotes and document artefacts produced by participants.
Results
The forum identified major challenges which pose immediate risks to patient safety. Participants recommended priorities for addressing issues relating to: (i) the governance of test result management processes; (ii) integration of health care processes through the utilisation of effective digital health solutions; and (iii) involving patients as key partners in the decision-making and care process.
Conclusions
Stakeholder groups diverged slightly in their priorities. Consumers highlighted the lack of patient involvement in the test result management process but were less concerned about standardisation of reports and critical result thresholds than pathologists. The forum foregrounded the need for a systems approach, capable of identifying and addressing interconnections and multiple factors that contribute to poor test result follow-up, with a strong emphasis on enhancing the contribution of patients.
Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: This forum was held as part of a larger project funded under the National Health and Medical Research Council, Partnership Project Grant number 1111925.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organisation(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorials
- Learning from tragedy – improving diagnosis through case reviews
- Diagnostic test accuracy: a valuable tool for promoting quality and patient safety
- Review
- Blinding or information control in diagnosis: could it reduce errors in clinical decision-making?
- Opinion Paper
- System-related and cognitive errors in laboratory medicine
- Original Articles
- The Assessment of Reasoning Tool (ART): structuring the conversation between teachers and learners
- Determining qualitative effect size ratings using a likelihood ratio scatter matrix in diagnostic test accuracy systematic reviews
- Patient groups, clinicians and healthcare professionals agree – all test results need to be seen, understood and followed up
- Teaching about diagnostic errors through virtual patient cases: a pilot exploration
- Using computerized virtual cases to explore diagnostic error in practicing physicians
- “Closing the loop”: a mixed-methods study about resident learning from outcome feedback after patient handoffs
- Case-based simulation empowering pediatric residents to communicate about diagnostic uncertainty
- Letters to the Editor
- Capturing diagnostic errors in incident reporting systems: value of a specific “DX Tile” for diagnosis-related concerns
- PSA-based, prostate cancer risk on-line calculators: no such thing as a crystal ball?
- Learning from Error
- Learning from tragedy: the Julia Berg story
- Acknowledgment
- Congress Abstracts
- Diagnostic Error in Medicine
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorials
- Learning from tragedy – improving diagnosis through case reviews
- Diagnostic test accuracy: a valuable tool for promoting quality and patient safety
- Review
- Blinding or information control in diagnosis: could it reduce errors in clinical decision-making?
- Opinion Paper
- System-related and cognitive errors in laboratory medicine
- Original Articles
- The Assessment of Reasoning Tool (ART): structuring the conversation between teachers and learners
- Determining qualitative effect size ratings using a likelihood ratio scatter matrix in diagnostic test accuracy systematic reviews
- Patient groups, clinicians and healthcare professionals agree – all test results need to be seen, understood and followed up
- Teaching about diagnostic errors through virtual patient cases: a pilot exploration
- Using computerized virtual cases to explore diagnostic error in practicing physicians
- “Closing the loop”: a mixed-methods study about resident learning from outcome feedback after patient handoffs
- Case-based simulation empowering pediatric residents to communicate about diagnostic uncertainty
- Letters to the Editor
- Capturing diagnostic errors in incident reporting systems: value of a specific “DX Tile” for diagnosis-related concerns
- PSA-based, prostate cancer risk on-line calculators: no such thing as a crystal ball?
- Learning from Error
- Learning from tragedy: the Julia Berg story
- Acknowledgment
- Congress Abstracts
- Diagnostic Error in Medicine
