This case-based book illustrates and explores common cognitive biases and their consequences in the practice of medicine. The book begins with an introduction that explains the concept of cognitive errors and their importance in clinical medicine and current controversies within healthcare. The core of the book features chapters dedicated to particular cognitive biases; cases are presented and followed by a discussion of the clinician's rationale and an overview of the particular cognitive bias. Engaging and easy to read, this text provides strategies on minimizing cognitive errors in various medical and professional settings.

Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.

v. 1. Research findings -- v. 2. Concepts and methodology -- v. 3. Implementation issues -- v. 4. Programs, tools and products.

Behind heart disease and cancer, medical error is now listed as one of the leading causes of death. Of the many medical errors that may lead to injury and death, diagnostic failure is regarded as the most significant. Generally, the majority of diagnostic failures are attributed to the clinicians directly involved with the patient, and to a lesser extent, the system in which they work. In turn, the majority of errors made by clinicians are due to decision making failures manifested by various departures from rationality. Of all the medical environments in which patients are seen and diagnosed, the emergency department is the most challenging. It has been described as a "wicked" environment where illness and disease may range from minor ailments and complaints to severe, life-threatening disorders. The Cognitive Autopsy is a novel strategy towards understanding medical error and diagnostic failure in 42 clinical cases with which the author was directly involved or became aware of at the time. Essentially, it describes a cognitive approach towards root cause analysis of medical adverse events or near misses. Whereas root cause analysis typically focuses on the observable and measurable aspects of adverse events, the cognitive autopsy attempts to identify covert cognitive processes that may have contributed to outcomes. In this clinical setting, no cognitive process is directly observable but must be inferred from the behavior of the individual clinician. The book illustrates unequivocally that chief among these cognitive processes are cognitive biases and other flaws in decision making, rather than knowledge deficits.

Despite diagnosis being the key feature of a physician's clinical performance, this is the first book that deals specifically with the topic. In recent years, however, considerable interest has been shown in this area and significant developments have occurred in two main areas: a) an awareness and increasing understanding of the critical role of clinical decision making in the process of diagnosis, and of the multiple factors that impact it, and b) a similar appreciation of the role of the healthcare system in supporting clinicians in their efforts to make accurate diagnoses. Although medicine has seen major gains in knowledge and technology over the last few decades, there is a consensus that the diagnostic failure rate remains in the order of 10-15%. This book provides an overview of the major issues in this area, in particular focusing on where the diagnostic process fails, and where improvements might be made.

Despite diagnosis being the key feature of a physician's clinical performance, this is the first book that deals specifically with the topic. In recent years, however, considerable interest has been shown in this area and significant developments have occurred in two main areas: a) an awareness and increasing understanding of the critical role of clinical decision making in the process of diagnosis, and of the multiple factors that impact it, and b) a similar appreciation of the role of the healthcare system in supporting clinicians in their efforts to make accurate diagnoses. Although medicine has seen major gains in knowledge and technology over the last few decades, there is a consensus that the diagnostic failure rate remains in the order of 10-15%. This book provides an overview of the major issues in this area, in particular focusing on where the diagnostic process fails, and where improvements might be made.

Chapter topics include: Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Error Theoretical Concepts to Consider in Providing Clinical Reasoning Instruction Developing a Curriculum in Clinical Reasoning Educational Approaches to Common Cognitive Errors General Teaching Techniques Assessment of Clinical Reasoning Faculty Development and Dissemination Lifelong Learning in Clinical Reasoning Remediation of Clinical Reasoning Novel Approaches and Future Directions Teaching Clinical Reasoning: Where do we go from here?

ABC of Clinical Reasoning Being a good clinician is not only about knowledge — how doctors and other healthcare professionals think, reason, and make decisions is arguably their most critical skill. The second edition of the ABC of Clinical Reasoning breaks down clinical reasoning into its core components and explores each of these in more detail, including the applications for clinical practice, teaching, and learning. Informed by the latest evidence from cognitive psychology, education, and studies of expertise, this edition has been extensively re-written and updated, and covers: Key components of clinical reasoning: evidence-based history and examination, choosing and interpreting diagnostic tests, problem identification and management, and shared decision-making Key concepts in clinical reasoning, such dual process theories, and script theory Situativity and human factors Metacognition and cognitive strategies Teaching clinical reasoning From a team of expert authors, the ABC of Clinical Reasoning is essential reading for all students, clinical teachers, curriculum planners and clinicians involved in diagnosis. About the ABC series The ABC series has been designed to help you access information quickly and deliver the best patient care, and remains an essential reference tool for GPs, junior doctors, medical students and healthcare professionals. Now offering over 80 titles, this extensive series provides you with a quick and dependable reference on a range of topics in all the major specialties. The ABC series is the essential and dependable source of up-to-date information for all practitioners and students in primary healthcare. To receive automatic updates on books and journals in your specialty, join our email list. Sign up today at www.wiley.com/email

This case-based book illustrates and explores common cognitive biases and their consequences in the practice of medicine. The book begins with an introduction that explains the concept of cognitive errors and their importance in clinical medicine and current controversies within healthcare. The core of the book features chapters dedicated to particular cognitive biases; cases are presented and followed by a discussion of the clinician's rationale and an overview of the particular cognitive bias. Engaging and easy to read, this text provides strategies on minimizing cognitive errors in various medical and professional settings.

Accurate diagnosis is the foundation of medical practice, but at the start of the diagnostic process, uncertainty is inevitable. The clinician's skills and cognitive attributes determine the quality of the initial differential diagnosis and thus the crucial first phases of investigation and treatment; mistakes are often self-propagating. Diagnostic error is a major cause of avoidable morbidity and mortality, and is the commonest reason for successful litigation. Risk and Reasoning in Clinical Diagnosis is an accessible and readable look at the diagnostic process. Dr. Cym Ryle presents the insights and concepts developed in cognitive psychology which have led to the consensus that in all domains human reasoning is primarily driven by unconscious, intuitive mechanisms; the contribution of structured, analytical thinking is variable and inconsistent. He notes that the risk of error is inseparable from these mechanisms. Dr. Ryle then develops a description of the diagnostic process which encompasses its form, strengths and fallibility, and illustrates this description with examples from his work as a general practitioner. He argues that improving diagnostic accuracy should be a priority, and that there is sufficient evidence to guide changes in medical training, in clinical practice, and in the culture and organisation of our institutions. He identifies specific, practical steps that can be taken by individual clinicians and by clinical teams, suggests priorities for action in our institutions, and considers the obstacles to progress.