Whether misdiagnosis results in patient harm, wasted resources or malpractice lawsuits, it is a major concern for hospitals.
Evan Richardson, vice president of product at Grand Rounds (formerly ConsultingMD), helps consult patients on how to choose top-level doctors. He recently discussed the top four ways misdiagnosis is driving up healthcare costs.
[See also: Reducing the costs of misdiagnosis]
1. Medical malpractice suits. A misdiagnosis can lead to major health issues for a patient. Richardson said nearly 90 percent of misdiagnoses lead to serious injury or death. When the patient gets seriously sick or dies, a doctor and hospital can be held legally liable. This drives up healthcare costs, according to Richardson. “Proper diagnostics results in lower probability of medical malpractice,” said Richardson. “It’s important financially.”
2. Quality of care. When patients don’t receive the care they’re expecting, particularly when misdiagnosed, a hospital’s reputation can suffer. But hospitals aren’t only paying in terms of word of mouth. It’s expensive to keep treating patients again and again. “Low quality of care drives costs up,” Richardson said.
3. Payers are losing out. Public assistance programs such as Medicaid and Medicare lose money for every second a patient spends in the hospital. When a misdiagnosis happens, it drives up that time significantly, losing thousands of unnecessarily spent dollars. “If you’re not diagnosed properly the first time, it’s causing a lot of problems,” said Richardson. “The goal should be to get that patient healthy as soon as possible, so they can exit the healthcare system.”
4. Overdiagnosis means overcharging. Most of the time when a misdiagnosis happens, it results in overdiagnosis – and that’s costly. “Overdiagnosis ultimately drives up the cost of care,” said Richardson. “A huge amount is presumed on following up on the wrong prognosis.”